Average Rating: 7.7/10
Reviews Counted: 19
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 7.7/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 0
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 2,156
A young man born into criminal circumstances is forced to deal with his conscience in this drama from Belgium. Roger (Olivier Gourmet) is a corrupt businessman who smuggles illegal aliens into Antwerp and protects them from the law in exchange for working with his construction company. However, Roger pays meager wages for back-breaking labor and charges aliens appallingly high rent for substandard housing. Roger has a 15-year-old son, Igor (Jeremie Renier), who has learned from his father to
Sep 7, 1996 Wide
Aug 6, 2002
All Critics (25) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (1) | DVD (4)
The film is entirely within the caught-on-the-run tradition of cinema verite, which makes it all the grittier and its conclusion all the more wrenching.
The conflicts involved are intense and absorbing, proving that compelling moral dilemmas make for the most dramatic cinema.
The Dardenne brothers, as shown by their empathic casting, their very choice of theme, have confessed to a burden. They believe in hope.
Ranks with the great European art-house classics about childhood betrayed and innocence lost.
Speaks volumes about how we treat other human beings and what it means to truly grow up.
Almost everyone should be able to identify with the wrenching moral quandary facing Igor.
The Dardenne brothers feature debut is a stunning achievement, an emotionally powerful coming of age tale, which shows that humanism can prevail in the harshest economic conditions.
This is a raw, intense, and engaging anatomy of a 15-year-old boy's moral coming of age in a bleak Belgian town.
Impressively written and directed by Belgian brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne.
A meaningless pseudo-expose of the plight of immigrant workers.
A penetrating coming-of-age story, one that argues that adulthood begins with the emergence of moral convictions.
A troubling, offbeat and somewhat downbeat drama with no easy answers, with a stark, realistic style and some very good performances.
This is a grim morality tale that can't help putting you in someone else's shoes, wondering what you would do if you were in the same situation.
"La Promesse" is about Roger(Olivier Gourmet) who runs a thriving business smuggling, housing and exploiting illegal aliens in Belgium with his son, Igor(Jeremie Renier). Igor works as an apprentice to a mechanic(he pockets a woman's wallet while working there) and in his spare time makes his own personal go-cart.
November 3, 2005Super Reviewer
A grim but hopeful film that shows us the birth of a consciousness.
March 31, 2010Super Reviewer
| 35% | The Hangover Part II |
| 25% | Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Par... |
| 81% | Kung Fu Panda 2 |
| 44% | Cowboys & Aliens |
| 83% | Rise of the Planet of the Apes |
| 25% | Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Par... |
| 88% | Lady and the Tramp |
| 69% | A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas |
| 21% | Fireflies in the Garden |
| 45% | The Rebound |
Journey 2 Not Worth the Trip
What are his 10 best movies ever?
See the all-new action-packed trailer!
Five new Marvelous pictures