Borgman
Drafthouse Films | Release Date: June 6, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
3
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The PlaylistJessica KiangMay 25, 2013
With pitch-perfect performances across the board, and boasting crisp photography and editing, the film never ceases to twist, turn and surprise, taking wicked joy in constantly switching us back on ourselves and our expectations of the characters. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStephen HoldenJun 5, 2014
That Borgman restrains itself from turning into a full-scale horror movie makes it all the more unsettling, although it has its bumpy moments. Read full review
90
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekJun 3, 2014
Van Warmerdam keeps such a calm, firm hold on the material that he practically hypnotizes you into following along to the end. The craftsmanship is precise; the result is enigmatic. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiJun 11, 2014
Coyness aside, Borgman is a supremely controlled and darkly nuanced fable that veers away from your expectations every time you think you have it figured out. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniJun 13, 2014
A remarkable, thoroughly disturbing creepshow that burrows deep under your skin and refuses to let go. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnMay 25, 2013
With its palatial setting, Borgman shows how money can buy luxury, but it can't salvage the corruption that comes from within. Read full review
80
Film.comJordan HoffmanOct 22, 2013
Borgman‘s crafty, trickster-ish screenplay, always two steps ahead of you, keeps you rooting for clues, enough to put your ethics on temporary hold. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoJun 6, 2014
Borgman can sometimes frustrate but it is an accomplished piece of work, driven by a uniquely malevolent tonal balance and two fantastic central performances. It sometimes simmers when I wish it would boil over but damn if it isn’t fascinating to watch the water bubble. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle SmithJun 4, 2014
A sickening horror parable disguised as a comedy of mores, the Netherlands’ Borgman is a rarity: a genuinely shocking, upsetting movie. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreJun 3, 2014
Borgman is a chilling, cryptic film that commands your attention even as its writer-director devotes much of his attention to keeping you from figuring it out. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinJun 19, 2014
For all its emotional roller-coastering and wild intrigue, the film's purpose — as well as its title character — feels more symbolic than specific. Still, this well-shot and -designed picture is a mostly compelling, intrepid ride. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'HehirJun 9, 2014
If you can tolerate watching it once, it will burrow into your brain and never get out again; your only recourse will be dragging your friends into the nightmare and seeing it again. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJun 6, 2014
Van Warmerdam has a way with images that are both playful and horrific, and you may find yourself chuckling at Borgman as much as you recoil at it. It’s destined for cult status. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMay 26, 2013
A quirky study of the unrelenting grip of evil, the film is beautifully made, though stronger in its intriguing setup than its muddy resolution. Read full review
70
VarietyGuy LodgeMay 25, 2013
A sly, insidious and intermittently hilarious domestic thriller. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloJun 5, 2014
Van Warmerdam keeps things engrossingly ominous throughout, and Bijvoet has a lot of fun with his passive-aggressive creepazoid, but Borgman is both too self-consciously odd and too bluntly punitive to draw real blood. Read full review
60
The DissolveScott TobiasJun 3, 2014
There isn’t a bad scene in Borgman... But van Warmerdam just keeps on teasing and teasing, until the creeping suspicion sets in that teasing is all the film is going to do. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonDave CalhounMay 25, 2013
Beyond the shocks and games, there's not a great deal to take away in the form of meaty ideas or lingering themes, and its catchy premise doesn't really deliver in the end. Read full review
60
The GuardianCatherine ShoardMay 25, 2013
There's the frustrating sense of ideas bubbling too low beneath the surface, of mordant jokes serving as an end rather than a means. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineClayton DillardJun 3, 2014
An art-house con destined to make viewers who've ever used the term "mindfuck" as praise rack their brains trying to come up with alternate readings for a film that invites many but convincingly offers none. Read full review
25
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyJul 17, 2014
Is Borgman a fable? A fairy tale? A parable? An allegory? A burlesque of Western bourgeois life in the 21st century? One thing Dutch writer-director Alex van Warmerdam’s film isn’t is a black comedy, even if that’s what it’s meant to be. The movie’s black, all right, but a comedy has to be funny. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJun 19, 2014
The Dutch thriller Borgman gets credit for being original, but not for being original in a compelling way. Read full review
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