This story is far too transparent to hold our attention for long.
Comment
09/29/03
Rate this Movie 
The Embalmer (2003)
81
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work
Reviews Counted:32
Fresh:26
Rotten:6
Average Rating:6.8/10
Consensus: Intriguingly creepy and unsettling.
Theatrical Release:Jul 18, 2003 Limited
Synopsis: THE EMBALMER, directed by Matteo Garrone, is the story of unrequited love and repressed homosexuality gone awry. Peppino (Ernesto Mahieux) is a diminutive taxidermist who secretly courts an... [More]
Starring: Ernesto Mahieux, Valerio Foglia Manzillo, Elisabetta Rocchetti, Lina Bernardi
Director: Matteo Garrone
Get This Movie
Reviews for The Embalmer
Perverse and chilling, but also novel, smart.
07/17/03
Top CriticMahieux's unsettling performance, an alienating coastal location and a story that takes the unexpected path are all beautifully orchestrated by director Matteo Garrone
07/15/03
The Embalmer is a movie that will keep fresh on your mind for a few days but probably won't be preserved in your memory for all time.
12/12/03
In spite of some stiltedness, The Embalmer is an oft-intriguing examination of unquenched desire and the power of beauty.
12/11/03
Top CriticMasterful at concealing its true nature and surprising us with the turns of the story.
11/14/03
Top CriticWith fewer sensational confrontations, The Embalmer is a major work. As it stands, it signals the emergence of an exceptional filmmaker.
11/05/03
An effectively macabre and fiendishly entertaining tale of lust, unrequited love and the fine art of taxidermy.
07/22/03
Mahieux ... builds a character so relentlessly powerful and creepy that The Embalmer leaves an aftertaste -- we can practically smell him.
09/26/03
Top CriticSwiftly runs out of story and becomes stuck on the sexual squabbles of its characters.
04/01/03
Top CriticOnce Peppino is identified as a sexual predator, the movie loses whatever compassion it had for him, seeming to imply that his obsession and his sexual identity are the same thing.
09/25/03
The Embalmer has the look of naturalized Fellini and, in its nearly unblinking analysis of human power relations, a story worthy of Fassbinder.
07/08/03
Top CriticAs an aching meditation on the power of beauty, this hits home.
06/08/03
Top CriticA bummer, but one that manages to stick to its depraved convictions until the strange and bitter end.
07/22/03
Top CriticAn artfully toned-down story of thwarted desire.
06/26/03
...does just about everything in its power to turn you off. And guess what? It works.
11/14/03
Here's a movie that could keep David Lynch tossing at night.
09/25/03
Top CriticCreepy.
07/18/03
Top CriticUnsettling.
07/22/03
Brilliantly creates an atmosphere of malignant malaise and foreboding.
07/25/03
Top CriticRT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
MSN's Year in Review 
Take a look at MSN's choices for the Top 10 films of 2009.
40 Best Films of the 2000s
Last week, Moviefone offered us their worst films of the 2000s. Now see their 40 best!
Tarantino's Characters
Hollywood.com explores why QT's characters resonate so well with audiences.
10 Questions For Zac Efron
The Me and Orson Welles star answers reader questions on TIME.com.
Top 20 of the Decade
Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds