The Deep End
Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: August 8, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
78
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Washington PostDesson Thomson
An extraordinarily riveting drama. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Exquisitely made with a mesmerizing sense of style, it shows the wonderful things that can happen when traditional material is both handled with care and adroitly updated. Read full review
90
TimeRichard Schickel
Elegantly made, romantically doomy, curiously affecting movie. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
A thriller with a quietly sensational performance by Tilda Swinton.
90
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Fastidious and smart, and Ms. Swinton's fixated intensity isn't ever remote; we're always aware of how deeply she's feeling. Her work is magnificent. Read full review
90
New Times (L.A.)Andy Klein
An exciting, sharply realized melodramatic film noir, based on Elizabeth Sanxay Holding's novel "The Blank Wall." Read full review
90
Washington PostRita Kempley
The real story lies beneath the surface of this superbly acted, strangely moving film. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Remains rooted in the real world, which makes its story all the more satisfying -- and chilling. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It's intense and involving, and it doesn't let us go. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeJay Carr
A perfect example of a small, well-made, and (in its central role) rivetingly acted film.
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
The Deep End doesn't have a knotty message, but it's a much more meaningful picture than "Suture." Read full review
80
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Taking film noir material and turning it inside out visually and morally, The Deep End is an absorbing, beautifully made melodrama that succeeds on formal levels more than it does with suspense or emotion. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
A fetchingly improbable match of material and directors. Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Springs surprises that entertain and provoke. Read full review
80
Mr. ShowbizKevin Maynard
Goran Visnjic is such a sensitive, non-menacing gentleman that any woman would want him as her own personal blackmailer.
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Swinton is heartbreaking. She's not just craft; she's high art. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Delicious, intelligent thriller. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Swinton single-handedly carries The Deep End past its nagging ambiguities. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWesley Morris
The resulting film is nobly ridiculous and ridiculously noble, doing everything in its power to subvert the dross it's fooling around with. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
An intelligent, extremely well-acted thriller about a mother's endless love for her son. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Watchable enough on its own terms. Read full review
70
Village VoiceDennis Lim
Swinton provides her own brand of incandescence, doubling as the film's aching heart and its center of gravity. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Ultimately successful at what it sets out to do, even if it's not as much fun along the way as the original. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Displays a promise it doesn't, in the end, live up to. See it for Swinton's embodiment of unadulterated maternal will. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The same story was told vastly better in the 1949 melodrama "The Reckless Moment." Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Swinton lends Margaret an air of grace under pressure, and fleshing out feelings of domestic dissatisfaction -- a key element that otherwise remains buried in the subtext. Read full review
50
SlateDavid Edelstein
Swinton is good enough to take your mind off the not-too-compelling ambiguities. Read full review
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