Julia Reviews

Tilda Swinton's strong central performance saves an otherwise routine drug drama.

Full Review | Comment | Original Score: 3/4

It's simply impossible to imagine Eric Zonca's Julia, a noirish thriller and sharp character study inspired by Cassavetes' Gloria, without Tilda Swinton, who dominates the film from start to finish.

Full Review | Comment | Original Score: B+

One should hope Tilda Swinton has a good dental plan - it will come in handy when the time comes to pry out the scenery she aggressively chomps.

Full Review | Comments (3) | Original Score: 1/5

In Erick Zonca's tense and juicy noir, Tilda Swinton plays the title role with a crusty panache matched only by her matted, flaming-red thatch of hair (a character in its own right).

Full Review | Comment | Original Score: 3/4

Tilda Swinton is electrifying in this riveting, knock-your-socks-off crime thriller that is just about as intense as movies get.

Full Review | Comment | Original Score: 4/5

Charles Bukowski would have loved this foul-mouthed, fiery, reckless woman. Against all odds and common sense, you will, too.

Full Review | Comment | Original Score: 3.5/4

The plot is over-the-top, but Swinton makes you stay with the film long after the writer/director loses credibility.

Full Review | Comment | Original Score: B-

I salute the film's bravery for rushing off at full force on its own stream-of-consciousness logic, but for me, I found the final stages perhaps a tad too far-fetched.

Full Review | Comment | Original Score: B+

I recommend going to see it, but don't blame me when you feel like you've downed a fifth of vodka afterwards.

Full Review | Comment

In a sense, it goes to all the places a sensitive character study might have gone, but more dramatically, convincingly and vividly.

Full Review | Comment | Original Score: 3/4

A nerve-wracking thriller with a twisty plot and startling realism.

Full Review | Comment | Original Score: 4/4

Swinton is mesmerising as a messed-up drunk.

Full Review | Comment | Original Score: 3.5/5

a tonally-consistent, lively thriller that is very much of the filmmaker's own little corner of the world

Full Review | Comment | Original Score: 3.5/5

This is not really sure what it wants to be, an out-an-out thriller or a character portrait, but it exels at both in parts.

Full Review | Comment | Original Score: 3/5

Julia is a mix of fantasy and tragedy, with the violence amped up and the background noisy and lurid.

Full Review | Comment

This is Zonca's second feature. His first, The Dreamlife of Angels, was extraordinary. Rent that one instead.

Full Review | Comment | Original Score: C-

Boasts an electrifying, brave performance by Tilda Swinton and has a thrilling initial half, but eventually becomes tedious and convoluted while lacking plausibility and insight into the titular character.

Full Review | Comment | Original Score: 5.0/10

Zonca's Julia is a difficult movie to stomach, but entirely worth the emotional unrest it puts through you.

Full Review | Comment | Original Score: 4.5/5

We never get a good look at her demons, just the havoc they wreak.

Full Review | Comment | Original Score: 2/5

Picture Fargo played with no sense of comedy, and you'll get some idea of the absurdity of this drunken floozy, clicking and wobbling on high heels, often with bits of her anatomy hanging out, trying to pull off the perfect crime.

Full Review | Comment | Original Score: 1.5/4