Deadfall Reviews
Observer [UK]
A strong cast makes up for thinnish characterisation, and it's so like Fargo it might as well be called "Fargone".
Contactmusic.com
With a focus on messy family relationships, this thriller's deranged comical touches almost make up for its contrived plot and annoyingly thin characters.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Total Film
Too many coincidences spoil the plot, but this is a down'n'dirty, black'n'bloody little thriller. If nothing else, you'll truly feel the chill.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Shadows on the Wall
Director Ruzowitzky lets his cast make the most of the wildly swerving tone.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
ViewLondon
Engaging thriller, enlivened by some snowy location work and strong performances from a superb cast, though the script struggles to find the right tone.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Eye for Film
For all that Dean's exploration of dysfunctional families punches squarely on the nose, Ruzowitzky bobs and weaves around the cliches in ways that lift Deadfall above many of its genre contemporaries.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
East Bay Express
What the screenplay lacks, director Ruzowitzky paints in, with bold, elemental strokes on the dirty-snow canvas.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Perhaps the best thing about "Deadfall" is the lifelike messiness of its ending. A couple of the characters have a lot of explaining to do, and this is one case where a sequel might be in order.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
Top Critic
amNewYork
A rare modern genre piece that doesn't shy away from being impossibly bleak and downbeat.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
A genre characterized by often grisly violence, high style and a distinctly nihilistic outlook.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
[An] atmospheric, suspenseful, snowbound crime thriller with a creepy, sexy undertow ...
"Deadfall" brings to mind those dark, old-fashioned entertainments in rotation on Turner Classic Movies that suck you in with their genre machinery, sullen beauties and despair.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Jam! Movies
Deadfall is soaked in creepy, larded with violence and filled with people in pain. Cue the dread.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
'Deadfall' deftly transforms the climactic moments ... therapeutic for some, devastating for others. It's a beautiful thing.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
AALBC.com
An intriguing cat-and-mouse caper featuring both bullets and brains. The question is how long can they keep up the 'good perp, bad perp' charade before their luck finally runs out?
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
The camera work is as beautiful as it is terrifying, with Quebec standing in for northern Michigan in the dead of winter. And the performances are resourceful, superbly etched and expertly nuanced.
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It circles its way from a conventional thriller to a dodgy love story, and leaves in its path a few dead bodies and a few living crippled psyches... .
Full Review
| Original Score: B-
Laramie Movie Scope
The film's plot is not all that complex. What makes it work are the interesting characters and the way they play off each other, creating complex emotional patterns.
Full Review
| Original Score: B
ColeSmithey.com
Your standard issue cold-weather crime thriller, "Deadfall" comes complete with gratuitous sex, a hot-pursuit chase sequence involving snowmobiles, and a merciless bad guy you can't help but root for.
Full Review
| Original Score: B
