The Monitor (Babycall) Reviews
Horror.com
The Monitor is one of the better psychological thrillers I've seen in awhile.
Birmingham Mail
(Noomy) Rapace gives the performance of the week ( ... ) on this form I could watch her all day long
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Birmingham Post
Rapace again proves herself to be a fearless actress, especially when Babycall is delivering elements which are as unsettling as something like Robin Williams' One Hour Photo.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
SFX Magazine
Provides an effectively unsettling counterpart to glossier chillers of its ilk.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
Observer [UK]
The film and Rapace command our attention, though at the end one feels Norway has used up the whole of this year's quota of red herrings.
Daily Mirror [UK]
It's a bit on the dour side but Rapace is always watchable.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Radio Times
This effective chiller bears more than a passing resemblance to The Baby's Room, Alex de la Iglesia's contribution to the 2006 Spanish TV series Films to Keep You Awake.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Little White Lies
The ending may not entirely add up, but a minor complaint with so much else to keep us on our toes.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Top CriticIt's the naturalistic intensity of Rapace's performance that stays with us.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Film4
Part disturbing study of vulnerability, part twisty-turny decoy fest, Babycall gets a bit too ensnared in its own web of intrigue.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Sky Movies
Ambiguous and enigmatic or muddled and unsatisfying? It's your call.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Empire Magazine
Genuinely creepy, it's another Scandinavian thriller that will nestle uncomfortably in your head.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
The List
It's a well-paced, gradually established scenario; Norwegian writer/director Pĺl Sletaune keeps us guessing as to what is really going on, while drip-feeding information that slowly undermines the reliability of Anna's perspective.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Total Film
The script needs more nurturing but Noomi Rapace takes up some of the slack in Pal Sletaune's maternal mystery.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
The Skinny
Sletaune maintains a fraught, creepy atmosphere throughout, making excellent use of the claustrophobic interiors and sparse, crumbling neighbourhood surrounds.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
tonymacklin.net
Norwegian director/writer Pal Sletaune appears to have been influenced by Roman Polanski, but The Monitor is more oppressive than haunting. There is little or no sense of dread. The climax is predictable.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.0/5
Daily Telegraph
The movie makes less and less effort to keep us up to speed - it's a reasonable assumption that a lot of it's going on inside Rapace's head, but determining precisely how much feels like a fool's errand.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
Guardian [UK]
It's a great idea for a thriller - but then other plotlines get muddled in, and everything unravels into a cop-out.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
