How I Killed My Father
New Yorker Films | Release Date: August 23, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
78
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Buy on

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
The most disturbing and effective thriller I've seen in many moons. Rarely, indeed almost never, is such high-wattage brainpower coupled with pitch-perfect acting and an exquisite, unfakable sense of cinema. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleJonathan Curiel
Under Fontaine's direction, family dysfunction is an intense experience with unexpectedly positive repercussions, even if the steps between are painful and potentially deadly. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The script is a steady accretion of small stabs to the heart, propelling the gorgeous performances of Berling, Regnier, and especially the 76-year-old French cinema veteran Bouquet, whose every faint smile is killing. Read full review
90
L.A. WeeklyJohn Patterson
The result is an intelligent, moving and invigorating film, just the thing for adults bored with the shock-horror posturing to be found in the work of so many young European directors. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Truly, there can be nothing as complex as the simplest human relationships, and nothing as satisfying as a film that understands that as this one does. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Michel Bouquet's performance makes Anne Fontaine's How I Killed My Father required viewing. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Not about murder in the literal sense, although that seems a possibility. It is about a man who would like to kill his father, and who may have been killed spiritually by his father. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Polite but emotionally devastating, How I Killed My Father throws such questions out like smart bombs, and they detonate long after the end-credits have rolled. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Fontaine gives her film the tone of a psychological thriller, with the potential of violence always lurking beneath the surface. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Fontaine's thoughtful character-driven screenplay is the perfect vehicle for Berling and Bouquet and both are superb. As father and son, they play off each another in fascinating ways as the film moves towards its perfectly modulated, intriguingly ambiguous final moment. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ. R. Jones
Fontaine and Jacques Fieschi collaborated on the screenplay, and Jocelyn Pook's chilly string score nicely evokes the menace underlying the film's plush settings. Read full review
80
New Times (L.A.)Luke Y. Thompson
The pleasure is in watching veteran star Bouquet and the versatile Berling go at it -- they even seem to look alike. Read full review
75
Chicago TribunePatrick Z. McGavin
Cold, nervy and memorable. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
The title is to be taken figuratively, not literally -- is a top-notch study of family angst. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldMarta Barber
What strikes you the most about this well put-together film is how little you're drawn to either character or really understand where either is coming from. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The acting is superb, with emotions roiling beneath rigid exteriors. Read full review
40
Village VoiceDennis Lim
A disappointment after the droll, breezy suggestiveness of Fontaine's equally Freudian "Dry Cleaning," How I Killed My Father is rather less than the sum of its underventilated père-fils confrontations. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
A kind of murder mystery, but eventually the only victim is the audience's interest -- the picture is uncompromising and inauspicious. Read full review
More From This Movie

78 Critic Reviews

tbd User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 71 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL