Unknown
IFC First Take | Release Date: November 3, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
44
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
13
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Music video director Simon Brand makes an impressively taut debut with Unknown, a nifty little psychological crime thriller that suggests a "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" for the postindustrial age. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
It's an entertaining diversion whose clever structure gives pulp-crime cliches a welcome twist. Read full review
60
VarietyRonnie Scheib
Brand has assembled a cast of world class improvisers, yet doesn't take advantage of their own particularized, inflected rhythms, as each ritualistically experiences a jump-cut fragmentary flashback in front of the same bathroom mirror. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Unknown seems fairly stale and unoriginal, mainly because it's yet another movie with the short-term memory loss premise ("Memento," "Fifty First Dates," etc.), and it comes so late in the cycle that it feels like a dying gasp. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
It all comes together at the end, logically and with a twist. But it's not a game that allows the audience to play along. When the story is controlled by whatever memories the writer and director choose to put in the characters' heads, you're always on the outside looking in. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle Smith
To kill 80 minutes, the movie has to pad itself with several dull speeches and stagy moments. The worst? How about when the five men, who have ample reason to fear each other and are facing a life-or-death reckoning, whistle "Ode to Joy" together like a bunch of Whiffenpoofs? Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyLuke Y. Thompson
Director Simon Brand channels both "Saw" and "Reservoir Dogs" (good influences, both) to propel his main story forward, and even gets nicely twisty when the climax comes, but it's hard to escape the feeling that the B-story was added in to pad the film's running time. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
While Brand manages a couple of effectively brutal bits of violence, Matthew Waynee's gassy screenplay is all premise and no propulsion. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Despite a clever script and top-notch cast, whose commitment to doing service in the indie branch of the industry is commendable, Unknown falls apart just when it should be coming together. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Unfortunately, the film's charm ends with the plot gimmick. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Unknown is punchy and entertaining. Maybe not the sort of thing you'd want to spend $10 plus a mortgage for popcorn on, but a nifty surprise on DVD several months from now -- or on pay-cable on-demand right now. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
Unknown manages a hat trick by making its march toward the climax so tedious and unlikely that it unravels even as it gets off the ground. Read full review
40
Village VoiceJean Oppenheimer
The pacing is slightly off, with the action switching between the imprisoned men and the police who are trying to find them, and what should be a mounting sense of urgency inside the warehouse (think Reservoir Dogs) falters and goes slack. Read full review
40
The New York TimesLaura Kern
After a whole lot of buildup, and a real letdown of a payoff, the only enigma left is why we should care. Read full review
40
EmpireJames Dyer
Moderately lame horror. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesSam Adams
The movie's disinterest in character might be forgivable were its plot not riddled with holes. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Feeble exercise in brain-teaser noir. Read full review
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