54
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinLos Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinWith admirable economy, writer-director Billy Senese has crafted an eerie piece that's as much an effective cautionary tale as it is a stirring film of ideas — and ideals.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoSan Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoDon’t expect profundities on the ethics of cloning. And don’t expect Oscar-worthy acting. Senese’s accomplishment — and it’s done with a certain restraint — is to replicate the look and feel of ’70s horror films, which had become more assaultive on audience sensibilities than their predecessors, breaking taboos and borrowing techniques from exploitation films.
- 63Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaPhiladelphia InquirerSteven ReaStudents of sound design and horror-movie scores should see - or hear - Closer to God, which elicits more creepy scares than its transparent plot warrants, thanks to an unsettling audio mix and pulsing, percolating music from Thomas Nöla.
- 60Village VoiceRob StaegerVillage VoiceRob StaegerThe drama plays out as expected — the ending, particularly, seems too pat — but offers several well-executed moments of tension along the way.
- 50Slant MagazineWes GreeneSlant MagazineWes GreeneThe end result suggests Re-Animator as told through an airless CNN report.
- 50The New York TimesAndy WebsterThe New York TimesAndy WebsterHaving painted Victor as a transgressive offender, Mr. Senese backpedals furiously with a coda asserting the potential rewards of genetic manipulation. It isn’t convincing.
- 50VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyThe result is ultimately admirable more for what it resists — the usual sci-fi horror exploitation cliches — than for the watchable yet somewhat underwhelming impact of a narrative that feels perhaps a little too reined-in for its own good.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe writer/director deserves credit for his comparatively low-key approach to the potentially exploitative material, but much like the infant baby at its center, the film seems artificially cobbled-together.