Io non ho paura 2003

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Taps into the terrifying rush and excitement that accompanies a child's loss of innocence: the dislocating realization that the world is not the safe, neatly ordered place it once seemed to be. Read more

Robert K. Elder, Chicago Tribune: A virtuoso piece of dark storytelling. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Both atmospheric thriller and heartbreaking coming-of-age tale. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: [It's] so perfectly written and paced. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Rana's anxiety, stacked on top of that of the politically tense region, creates a pitched emotional drama made more gripping by its real-world setting. Read more

Bill Muller, Arizona Republic: The director reminds us that not all films require a breakneck pace or ridiculous twists to be effective. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Watching it is like being lost in somebody's richly moody campfire story. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: With a graceful confidence Salvatores has made a movie in which good and evil flow into each other as easily as day and night. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: An accomplished and evocative thriller from Italy. Read more

Michael Booth, Denver Post: Salvatores remains admirably literal throughout the story, but his camera evokes all kinds of mystical possibilities. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: With a taste for dark lyricism, the director delicately emphasizes the contrast between surface innocence and subterranean danger, and between grown-up secrets and boyhood bravery. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Yet another sad tumble from promise into violation, from the white-heat of bliss to the ashes of banality. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: A thriller of conviction, class and deceptive simplicity. Read more

Robert Abele, L.A. Weekly: Agreeably gripping coming-of-age thriller. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: Few movies purporting to chronicle loss of innocence convey its jolt and sadness as effectively. Read more

Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: At the bottom of it all lies nothing more than a by-the-numbers Hollywood thriller. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Haunting and suspenseful. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: Although this visually dazzling movie from Italy takes on many of the characteristics of a conventional thriller, it refuses to go for cheap, vicious shocks. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: The performances are all terrific. Each one suggests an entire story that we can only glimpse. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: With its unique perspective on both the coming-of-age and thriller genres, the movie deserves to be seen by a wider audience than the one that normally frequents subtitled movies. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: A reminder of true childhood, of its fears and speculations, of the way a conversation can be overheard but not understood, of the way that the shape of the adult world forms slowly through the mist. Read more

Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle: A beautifully shot and compelling blend of thriller and coming-of-age drama. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: A collection of juxtapositions: bucolic countryside opposite jangling nerves. Innocent childhood opposite a boy subjected to unspeakable horror. Love opposite fear. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: Makes bland international entertainment out of specific historical trauma. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Powerfully and palpably capturing the isolation, confusion and unnameable fears of childhood. Read more

David Rooney, Variety: Salvatores' classically illustrative treatment should open arthouse doors for the visually sumptuous production. Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: Acted in one flavor of broadly sliced prosciutto, and marred with familiar digital punctuation, I'm Not Scared needn't be prepped for Hollywood recycling -- it is its own homogenized remake. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: It's the kind of stomach-churning bedtime story that encourages us to be afraid, without ever being able to reassure us, like a parent, that it'll all be okay in the end. Read more