The Woman in the Fifth
ATO Pictures | Release Date: June 15, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
8
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertJun 20, 2012
Tom has enlisted our identification and sympathy, but he seems hopelessly isolated within his own bubble of despair. How much that happens is in his mind? Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderBen SachsJun 21, 2012
Unlike most literary adaptations this one actually conveys the pleasure of fiction, lingering suggestively on small details of character and place. The movie casts such a seductive air of mystery that the resolution feels anticlimactic, yet there's plenty to enjoy along the way. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJun 14, 2012
This movie is not recommended for people who need to know what's going on. The Woman in the Fifth, an English and French language film from the Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski, is watchable and enjoyable, but it's fairly impenetrable, and it gets more peculiar as it goes along. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChris CabinJun 13, 2012
Pawlikowski has crafted a film that throbs with substantial personal weight and bristles with a violent, haunting interior life. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisJun 14, 2012
Although Mr. Pawlikowski often shows Mr. Hawke in medium and long shots, the actor draws you close. There's anguish in Tom's face that speaks of a terrible fragility and that leavens the story's mysterioso proceedings with a real, recognizable humanity. Read full review
70
TimeRichard CorlissJun 14, 2012
Accepting Pawlikowski's mood of poetic seriousness may be a chore for some. Others will find this creepy little sonata a dream or nightmare worth succumbing to, and believing in. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumJun 13, 2012
Heavy on mood and murk. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenJun 14, 2012
The Woman in the Fifth is an interesting chameleon until it runs out of disguises, and all that was transitory just looks transparent. Read full review
60
MovielineStephanie ZacharekJun 16, 2012
I was with the movie every step of the way, right until the final credits began rolling – at which point I realized that the whole thing made no sense whatsoever, and that none of my nagging questions about what the hell was going on would ever be answered. There's a distinction to be made between being a dupe and being had. Read full review
60
Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonJun 13, 2012
You're not sure what this is till it's over, but certainly Hawke's performance is his nerviest and most sincere in a decade. Read full review
60
EmpireLiz BeardsworthJun 13, 2012
An ambitious thriller from Pawlikowski assisted by excellent performances from Hawke, Kulig and Scott Thomas. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawJun 13, 2012
This film has to be indulged a little, and you'll have to negotiate the stumbling block that is Hawke's stodgy, dodgy French accent. Read full review
60
Total FilmTom DawsonJun 13, 2012
Contrived attempts to 'explain' the film's many mysteries ultimately disappoint. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott TobiasJun 13, 2012
In spite of his considerable intelligence and cinematic gifts, Pawlikowski isn't Roman Polanski, so the delusions and psychosis of his put-upon lead character doesn't have the right intensity. Fifth feels like a literary bauble, chipped by imperfections. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanJun 14, 2012
Hawke works hard to solidify Pawlikowski's wispy ideas (which are adapted from Douglas Kennedy's novel). Read full review
40
Time OutKeith UhlichJun 13, 2012
Irritated, you realize you've been watching an object that's all surface, no soul. Read full review
38
New York PostLou LumenickJun 15, 2012
A sluggish and murky sub-Polanski-esque psychodrama. Read full review
38
Washington PostAnn HornadayJun 14, 2012
It's a curio, ripe with dreamy atmospherics and intriguing mysteries, but little else. Read full review
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