The Deep End: Critic Reviews

The film ultimately fails, either because the premise is too absurd, or the execution isn't absurd enough.

Swinton mesmerizes as the desperate mother of three under siege.

The Deep End is the year's best movie since Memento.

For the most part ... the filmmakers and performers invest a high level of intelligence and sympathy into The Deep End.

The Deep End does what too few films even attempt -- it takes an ordinary life and places it in an extraordinary situation just believable enough to be terrifying.

Woman-in-jeopardy thriller with a double twist.

Margaret doesn't throw punches, just rolls with them. Some of her actions can't be objectively condoned. But through a maternal prism, Tilda Swinton makes sure they're understood, with skill sly enough to register strongly in the most ordinary of roles.

Finely crafted but more than a little overrated.

As the protective mother, the brilliant Tilda Swinton elevates this well-directed neo-noir way above its status as a loose remake of the 1949 Max Ophuls's Reckless Moment.

Its overall attempts at re-igniting the unsettling ambience of old-fashioned film noir are let down by a potholed plot and poor characterisation.

Having two directors at the helm doesn't help

A film that is diverting but not memorable.

Swinton ... is for once deglamorized into an ordinary woman enlarged by extraordinary circumstances, and the role animates her wonderfully.

A stunning and stylish update of The Reckless Moment (1949), the sophomore effort from Siegel and McGehee is a taut psychological drama that lingers long after its credits roll.

An engrossing, full-of-surprises thriller about a woman who gives new meaning to the term 'supermom.'

The characters and their duplicitous relationships ... are riveting.

Unbidden, Alek (Goran Visnjic) gives Margaret what she wants from her family: recognition. Maybe that's all that any woman wants from her family.

The unadorned beauty of Swinton's fascinating face is reminiscent of the model in Andrew Wyeth's famous painting "Braids." Once you've looked into her narrowed eyes, you're hooked.

...captures some of this harrowing atmosphere, but I wanted even more.

...insofar as creating any kind of realism or credibility is concerned...the movie goes quickly off the deep end.

Tilda Swinton carries this movie on her capable shoulders, and with a lesser actress in the lead, I am sure that it wouldn't be getting the rave reviews it is.

I admired the film's overall craft and structure, but without capturing my complete sympathies, it misses greatness.

It is a gripping, suspenseful drama that grabs you by the throat and just won't let go.

For a film that doesn't really have much happening in it (action-wise), this baby sure is gripping!

(Tilda Swinton gives) perhaps the best performance from any actor I've seen so far this year.