Evil (2003)
69 %
Reviews Counted: 35 Fresh: 24 Rotten:11 Average Rating: 6.6/10
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Theatrical Release: Mar 10, 2006 Limited
Synopsis: In 1950s Sweden, sixteen-year-old Erik Ponti's (Andreas Wilson) life is tainted by violence and conflict at both home and school. When he is expelled for fighting other students and has no possibility of transferring to another state school, his mother sells her heirlooms to pay for her only... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Jesper Salen, Andreas Wilson, Henrik Lunstrom, Gustaf Skarsgård, Linda Zilliacus
Director: Mikael Håfström
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Reviews
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09/29/07
On the surface it seems very familiar ... and not altogether inaccessible to American audiences, but it also has the depth and substance we expect from our imports.
09/17/07
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05/07/07
Powerful film where the transformation is painful to watch, but leaves you feeling hope. It took me by surprise at several turns and stayed with me long after the final credits rolled.
07/11/06
Add the mystique of a foreign language, and suddenly the U.S. considers it an art film.
06/28/06
The narrative has the same familiarity as the setting as Erik has to fight forces bigger than himself, giving the audience a story that justifies (and, not so secretly, revels in) its violence. Call it Fight Club at a boarding school.
06/11/06
Top Critic
The second half of 'Evil' takes this genre into new and challenging territory.
04/12/06
Hafström's dramatic sense is ... pedestrian and snail's-pace obvious.
04/01/06
Top Critic
Movies like Evil entertain us by serving sweet revenge on a platter, and director Mikael Håfström manipulates emotions more intelligently than most.
03/31/06
Wilson, who plays Erik, had never been in a film before Evil -- which was nominated for a best foreign-language Oscar in 2004 -- and there's no reason that he can't make many more of them.
03/31/06
Top Critic
Its stuffy, private-school scenes nearly turn the whole thing into The Dead Pugilist's Society, but this Swedish import does have its chilling moments.
03/31/06
Director Mikael Håfstrom exudes no subtlety and lets the blood flow, at odds with the nonviolent moral message this Oscar-nominated film aims to deliver.
03/31/06
A commentary on the troubling gray area between acceptable and unacceptable forms of violence, especially where the molding of boys into 'real men' is concerned.
03/30/06
Solid enough, its main flaw is a sense of restraint -- it never quite ventures into the surreal darkness of the obviously comparable If…
03/25/06
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03/25/06
Director Mikael Hafstrom demonstrates a sure hand with the material and is definitely a talent to keep an eye on.
03/24/06
The way it plays out, Evil feeds the audience's bloodlust as much as it decries the worst acts of its characters.
03/23/06
Top Critic
So unsubtle as to verge on the comical ... this didactic drama is set safely in the past and says nothing about the culture of conformity at all costs that hasn't been said before.
03/10/06
While it's sometimes obvious, Hafstrom's film is so emotionally satisfying on a gut level -- like Rebel Without a Cause -- that it holds you from start to finish.
03/10/06
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