I'm Not Scared
Miramax Films | Release Date: April 9, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Portland OregonianNestor Ramos
If the slightly hurried third act and unlikely conclusion don't quite deliver on the brilliance of the first 75 minutes, it's a forgivable offense. This is a different sort of horror film, where the known is infinitely more frightening than the unknown. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
By far the most gorgeous slice of sunlit sadism so far this summer, I’m Not Scared also manages to be oddly sweet: a boy’s life, with treachery. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Worth seeing not only because it's a highly effective thriller, but also because it's a finely tuned evocation of innocence at the mercy of adult cynicism. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
A virtuoso piece of dark storytelling. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
I'm Not Scared is a reminder of true childhood, of its fears and speculations, of the way a conversation can be overheard but not understood, of the way that the shape of the adult world forms slowly through the mist. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Watching it is like being lost in somebody's richly moody campfire story -- it's so good, in fact, that only once it's over do you realize you've been holding your marshmallows too close to the flame. Read full review
88
PremierePeter Debruge
Think of how M. Night Shyamalan redefined the ghost story (The Sixth Sense), the superhero creation myth (Unbreakable), and the alien-invasion epic (Signs)--and you may get a sense of the genius behind this fascinating new horror film. Read full review
88
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Like the best coming-of-age stories, I'm Not Scared (Io Non Ho Paura) is, in part, a work of horror. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
With a taste for dark lyricism, the director delicately emphasizes the contrast between surface innocence and subterranean danger, and between grown-up secrets and boyhood bravery. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Above all, I'm Not Scared pays off our emotional investment. In the end, its elements come together with the kind of genuinely thrilling, deeply satisfying climax that even the better Hollywood movies just can't seem to pull off anymore. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
This extraordinary Italian thriller is a study in contrasts: light versus dark, youth versus maturity, the playful versus the lethal. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
With a graceful confidence Salvatores has made a movie in which good and evil flow into each other as easily as day and night. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Although the movie takes on many of the characteristics of a conventional thriller, it refuses to go for cheap, vicious shocks, and the adults are seen through the curtain of Michele's trust. Read full review
80
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Deliberate disorientation keeps the audience constantly off balance, and it's brilliantly effective. Read full review
80
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
The film is remarkable for something besides its visual immersion in gold. The director, Gabriele Salvatores, has added his name to the roster of film-makers who have drawn remarkable acting from children. Read full review
80
EmpireMiles Fielder
This not being Hollywood, Michele and Filippo do not benefit from life lessons learned as exemplified in coming-of-age pap like "Now And Then." The sweet life, this ain’t. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
With its unique perspective on both the coming-of-age and thriller genres, the movie deserves to be seen by a wider audience than the one that normally frequents subtitled movies. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
In the guise of a nerve-jangling thriller, director Gabriele Salvatores, an Oscar winner for "Mediterraneo," delivers a fierce, frightening and deeply moving study of childhood. It's a keeper. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
It's hard to find a current release that so effectively teases the mind and emotions. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
This satisfying adaptation of a popular novel is mostly an artistic reflection on youthful loss of innocence. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
A plague of child kidnappings in Italy during the '70s provides the background for this chilling, deceptively simple tale of a rural boy who unearths terrible family secrets and rises to the moral challenge they present. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A tale of childhood innocence and adult corruption - and the point where the two intersect - I'm Not Scared is a lyrical thriller inspired by the run of kidnappings that befell Italy in the 1970s. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
Beautifully shot and compelling blend of thriller and coming-of-age drama. Read full review
70
VarietyDavid Rooney
While another director might have imbued the story of a Sicilian boy awakened to his parents' involvement in child abduction with more emotional weight and thematic depth, Salvatores' classically illustrative treatment should open arthouse doors for the visually sumptuous production. Read full review
70
The New YorkerDavid Denby
A lyrical throwback to such movies as René Clément's "Forbidden Games" (1952) and other works of the humanist European cinema of a half century ago. [12 April 2003, p. 89]
70
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
The young actors, all first-timers chosen in auditions in Puglia and Basilicata, are completely natural. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Good but it SEEMS even better because of its evocative setting. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The fascination here is not so much the surface drama, though that is suspenseful and sometimes shocking, but Michele's inability to grasp the nature and extent of the evil that surrounds him.
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
A film that appeared exceptional turns mundane. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
I'm Not Scared presents an interesting picture of youthful innocence challenged, but not a truthful one Read full review
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