78
Metascore
35 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirThe grandest and most vigorous movie he's (Frears) made in at least a decade. Like Okwe himself, it rises above its limitations, and it's just a little bit bigger than the landscape around it.
- 100Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranThis is a film that insinuates itself deeply into our awareness. It's that rare pulp story with something on its mind, an unnerving, socially conscious thriller with a killer sense of narrative drive.
- 100San Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannSan Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannAll told, the best ensemble cast I've seen this year.
- 90Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonOnce again, Frears -- who has enjoyed a glorious run of diverse, good-quality movies, from "My Beautiful Laundrette" to "High Fidelity" -- has crafted a unique gem.
- 88ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliIt's a dark and revealing movie, and, while the ending may not be upbeat enough for those expecting mainstream fare, it offers a measure of hope and a catharsis.
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe strength of the thriller genre is that it provides stories with built-in energy and structure. The weakness is that thrillers often seem to follow foreseeable formulas. Frears and his writer, Steve Knight, use the power of the thriller and avoid the weaknesses in giving us, really, two movies for the price of one.
- 83Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean AxmakerSeattle Post-IntelligencerSean AxmakerThe poetic justice strains the verisimilitude of a film otherwise grounded in a tough reality, but there is a guilty satisfaction to it all.
- 80Wall Street JournalWall Street JournalThe thriller aspect of this work, happily, doesn't overshadow its real beauty -- its stark portrayal of the nightmare despair of aliens, hunted, on edge, prepared to risk all for a new start.
- 70Village VoiceJessica WinterVillage VoiceJessica WinterSlick and sober, fiercely contemporary, and rigged by a fail-safe three-act structure, Dirty Pretty Things nimbly straddles the line between realism and popcorn pop, but it knows which side its bread is buttered on.
- 60New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerNew York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerThough worth seeing, should be better than it is.