The Eclipse
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: March 26, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Boxoffice MagazineWade Major
A charming oddity, a character-driven drama with just enough fringe genre elements to both enhance and distract, though ultimately hewing closer to the former to make the latter only a minor annoyance. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDoris Toumarkine
Intriguing mix of engaging drama and wonderful dialogue, all infused with stirring hints of the supernatural. Read full review
80
VarietyJohn Anderson
A film of such seductive grace, humor and startling side trips into buttocks-clenching ghastliness that auds won't know what to make of it (although it won't keep them from wanting to visit Ireland immediately). Read full review
70
Village VoiceNick Pinkerton
The Eclipse is a curious Irish ghost story that fiddles with the recipe just enough to produce interesting results. Read full review
40
Time OutDavid Fear
Never finds a common ground between the fantastic and the heartfelt. Such unintegrated flip-flopping between a muted character study and a horror flick relying on cheap scare tactics leaves you feeling mildly schizophrenic Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Though The Eclipse travels a sleepy route to a shrug of anticlimax, it’s refreshing to see a film acknowledge that life and love don’t end at 50, even in the outsized shadow of a soulmate’s death. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
A leisurely and quite lovely drama that honors the conventions of gothic ghost stories without the slightest stain of self-irony. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
A moody little number, The Eclipse makes good on its name by sometimes obscuring its themes and even point, which can have its charms though also severe drawbacks. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Although The Eclipse is technically a horror film, dealing as it does with issues of the supernatural, it has the heart of a romance and the tone of a drama. It's slow, thoughtful, and melancholy - at times seeming to forget that a ghost story is supposed to be at least marginally scary. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert Abele
With a well-knit array of picturesque long shots, shadow-strewn medium takes and the occasional silhouetted close-up, The Eclipse finds plenty of heartfelt gravity in its tale of love lost and found on a gothic coast. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
The actors - including Aidan Quinn as Lena's lover - work hard to balance a mood that fluctuates between stillness and stagnancy. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
Well worth seeing for its acting and its tempting cinematography. Don't be surprised if you find yourself wanting to book a vacation in Cobh. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
This is another mini-triumph from the resurgent Irish film industry, but much more than that it's a resonant yarn of love, loss, loneliness -- and things that go bump in the night. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
What holds The Eclipse together is Hinds' sorrowful and moving performance as a man haunted in more ways than one. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorAndy Klein
The energy slacks off in the final third. It’s a bit like “The Sixth Sense” – but without any of the mystery. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Hinds has been ready for a role of this size and shape for years; it was simply a matter of finding it, and its finding him. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
As for the scary business - it is, indeed, scary, delivered with an intensity that will make you think twice the next time you find yourself driving alone, or opening a closet door when no one else happens to be around. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
McPherson has managed a rare hat trick in genre mash-up, fashioning a deeply absorbing movie that balances horror, romance, comedy and observant humanism with surprising finesse. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The Eclipse is needlessly confusing. Is it a ghost story or not? Perhaps this is my problem. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Above all, the film is lucky to have one of the better character actors in recent movies in a lead role: Ciarán Hinds as Michael Farr. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
With apologies to George A. Romero and the impending zombie apocalypse, The Eclipse may be the most realistic film where something dead comes to life and tries to feast on human flesh. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/15/MVST1CTGJ4.DTL#ixzz0lDuetYGS Read full review
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