Maelstrom
Arrow Entertainment | Release Date: January 25, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
4
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
A splendid instance of a surrealist vision that serves to heighten the impact of genuine emotions experienced by believably real people. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Another of those excellent foreign films that sometimes slip though cracks, considered too strange or eccentric for domestic tastes. Strange it is, but delightfully so Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Sensual, funny and, in the end, very touching. Read full review
80
New Times (L.A.)Gregory Weinkauf
The story sustains a strong, hypnotic appeal well deserving of its many awards. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
Dark, wickedly funny tale. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldMarta Barber
Despite its stylistic flaws, the acting and the magic of the story make Maelstrom a different kind of film. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Compelling parable from Canada that's open to a number of interpretations. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
This doesn't mean Maelström is for everyone. It's a strange and quirky yarn, moving between deceptively calm scenes and episodes as tempestuous as its title. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
Strikingly photographed, Maelstrom, which explores its nautical themes in non-linear fashion, is not for all tastes. But I, for one, was hooked by this fish's tale. Read full review
70
VarietyDennis Harvey
A film whose charms are odd and indefinable by design. Read full review
70
Film ThreatRon Wells
Not too far below the gloss you can still feel director Denis Villeneuve's beating heart and the fondness he has for his characters. Because he does, you and I can too. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineEd Gonzalez
Maelström earns its haunting, unpredictable ending, never exaggerating Evian’s moral dilemma. Still, without non-stop techno or the existential overtones of a Kieślowski morality tale, Maelström is just another Winter Sleepers. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Ray Conlogue
Like many of his (young) generation, Villeneuve is front and centre with the visual and musical language. He doesn't always hit the mark, but he is already trying for a symbolic allusiveness that is entirely beyond the reach of many filmmakers. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Probably the first romantic drama ever narrated by a smelly dead fish. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Visually striking and viscerally repellent, director Denis Villeneuve's Quebecois oddity offers a nightmarish vision of one woman's unraveling, the likes of which haven't been seen since Roman Polanski pushed Catherine Deneuve off the deep end in "Repulsion" (1965). Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
For a movie about identity to have no identity of its own leaves the story doubly adrift, lost amid moody dark-blue imagery, a vacuous lead character, and obscure symbolism, such as the bloody talking fishes. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The film's overriding messages are of personal responsibility and redemption. If that is Villeneuve's objective, it's done as an insidious polemic. If not, it's guilty of an even greater sin: It's boring. Read full review
20
Village VoiceMark Holcomb
Wanders all over the map thematically and stylistically, and borrows heavily from Lynch, Jeunet, and von Trier while failing to find a spark of its own. Read full review
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