Filth 2013

Kyle Smith, New York Post: A cop caper that more than lives up to its name. Read more

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: Exhausting in its relentless depravity, "Filth" nevertheless is reminiscent of a much better movie also adapted from a novel by Irvine Welsh: Danny Boyle's 1996 "Trainspotting." Read more

Guy Lodge, Variety: For a film boasting only marginally fewer producers than it does speaking roles, there's something impressively unguarded about Filth. Read more

David Ehrlich, AV Club: Exhausting every trick in the book to illustrate the depravity of its protagonist, the film grows as out of control as its washed up anti-hero. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: "Filth" lives up to its title and then some, but a no-holds performance by James McAvoy is reason enough to watch. Read more

Stephen Dalton, Hollywood Reporter: Detective Bruce Robertson is a diabolically unpleasant anti-hero, but somehow McAvoy and writer-director Jon S. Baird makes us feel sympathy for the devil. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: Even tastelessness requires some consistency of acrid flavoring, and "Filth" uneasily mixes a not-uninteresting character study in self-destruction with '90s-nostalgic stylings... Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR: Credit the filmmakers with descending persuasively into the swampy squalor of a diseased mind. If you're in the mood to go there with them, Filth offers an indecently bracing wallow. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Manic but often morbidly fun ... Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: After a certain point, watching it is like listening to the ravings of an increasingly incoherent and abusive drunk. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Filth, directed by Jon S. Baird from a 1998 bestseller by Trainspotting wild man Irvine Welsh, is wired to explode. Even when the film falls to pieces, McAvoy's bonkers brilliance will blow you away. Read more

John Semley, Globe and Mail: Viewers hungry for a catch-all dose of Welshian sardonicism would be better served checking out Trainspotting. Better soundtrack, for one. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Unlike Jude Law's similarly offensive title character in Dom Hemingway, McAvoy is given a far better story to work from. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: You'll be scraping this film out from under your fingernails for weeks. Read more

Abby Garnett, Village Voice: Filth ends up wheezing across the finish line, dragging a load of kinky juvenilia behind it. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: I'm not sure I can recommend the movie, but this actor and this performance are something to behold. Read more