The King 2006

Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times: It really is reprehensible and disgusting, not only because we've seen far too many sociopaths in movies over the past 20 years, but because it deals with horrid cliches and presents them as something indie-hip and morally provocative. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Disturbing, but not haunting or soul-scorching, which is obviously what the filmmakers wanted. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: ... one of the more disturbing and chilling films so far this year ... Read more

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Read more

Tasha Robinson, AV Club: Echoes the dread-soaked likes of In The Bedroom and The Virgin Suicides as an examination of the human heart as well as the divine one. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: He's played morally unsettled men before, but Marsh doesn't bring a sense of torment or menace out of Bernal the way other directors have. Read more

Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times: A dark and deeply unsettling movie with its roots in classical tragedy. Read more

Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle: The web gets more tangled until, midway through, the drama drops and the film becomes yet another bloody horror show. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The first-time director, James Marsh, and his co-writer Milo Addica (who wrote Monster's Ball), sustain a black-comic tone, and the performances, as far they go, are quietly chilling. Read more

Michael Booth, Denver Post: A showcase for big ideas that winds up feeling empty. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Just about the only way to make sense of the film is to view its Christian family the way that the director, James Marsh, does -- with a contempt masquerading as social criticism. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: Its attempts at symbolism regarding sin and faith are astoundingly heavy-handed and further dampened by an ending that will be greeted with either silence or sneers. Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: A lurid, overheated Southern Gothic that wallows in its own unpleasantness. Read more

Associated Press: This story of a prodigal son returning to wreak havoc devolves into pointless and preposterous nastiness. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: The director, James Marsh (who wrote the script with Milo Addica), is a genius at keeping both levels in focus -- the conventional thwarted romance on top, the unholy mythic horror show under the surface. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The script's in version of the old story is too forced and self-consciously shocking to really connect. It's all obvious iconoclastic effect. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Surely among the darkest-themed movies ever made, British director James Marsh's The King is the jaw-dropping story of a born-again Christian facing the sins of his past in ways unimaginable. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It's the kind of work where characters develop on their own, without consulting the book of cliches. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: Dark, disturbing and audaciously original in a way only indies are given license to be anymore. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Even if the filmmakers are to be distrusted as slumming ethnological tourists, they treat the message of religious fundamentalism seriously. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: A deeply involving film where intentions are as cryptic as the title, and the reckoning of past sins opens fresh wounds. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: The King suffers from an overbearing sense of its own self-importance. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: The story of a veritable devil who comes to test and destroy a family of faith, The King is a noxious film morally and an aggravating one dramatically. Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: A rather beautifully produced indie mix of melodrama, ethnographic detail, and modern Southern gothic. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: [Marsh] and co-writer Milo Addica display such contempt for their characters and religious conviction in general, they reduce everything to one-note banality. Read more