critics consensus

The impressionistic narrative may confound the viewer, but Denis crafts wonderfully poetic, dreamlike imagery. Read critic reviews

Super Reviewer

Rate this movie

Oof, that was Rotten.

Meh, it passed the time.

It’s good – I’d recommend it.

Awesome!

So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

What did you think of the movie? (optional)
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
Super Reviewer
Step 2 of 2

How did you buy your ticket?

Let's get your review verified.
Fandango

AMCTheatres.com or AMC AppNew

Enter your Ticket Confirmation# located in your email.More Info

Cinemark Coming Soon

We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

Regal Coming Soon

We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

Theater box office or somewhere else
By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
Super Reviewer

Rate this movie

Oof, that was Rotten.

Meh, it passed the time.

It’s good – I’d recommend it.

Awesome!

So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

What did you think of the movie? (optional)
How did you buy your ticket?
- Fandango
- AMCTheatres.com or AMC AppNew
  
  Enter your Ticket Confirmation# located in your email.More Info
- Cinemark Coming Soon
  
  We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
- Regal Coming Soon
  
  We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
- Theater box office or somewhere else
By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.
You haven’t finished your review yet, want to submit as-is?

You can always edit your review after.
Are you sure?

Verified reviews are considered more trustworthy by fellow moviegoers.
Want to submit changes to your review before closing?

The Intruder Photos

View All Photos (19)

Movie Info

After receiving a heart transplant, an enigmatic loner (Michel Subor) journeys to Tahiti to reconnect with the son he fathered many years earlier.

Genre:

drama
Original Language:

French (France)
Director:

Claire Denis
Producer:

Humbert Balsan
Writer:

Claire Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau
Release Date (Streaming):

Apr 25, 2006
Box Office (Gross USA):

$40.6K
Runtime:

2h 10m
Production Co:

Ognon Pictures, Arte France Cinema

Cast & Crew

Michel Subor
Louis Trebor

Grégoire Colin
Sidney

Katia Golubeva
La jeune femme russe

Bambou
La pharmacienne

Florence Loiret-Caille
Antoinette

Béatrice Dalle
La reine de l'hémisphère nord

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for The Intruder

All Critics (30) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (27) | Rotten (3)

Denis is one of cinema's greatest narrative poets, and The Intruder, the story of an adventurer, is her most adventurous cinematic poem.

November 19, 2013 | Full Review…

Amy Taubin
Film Comment Magazine
While it may take a few viewings to sort the details out, much about L'Intrus lingers, shimmering quietly in the memory.

April 7, 2006 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times
This is self-consciously intricate, but even if the storyline occasionally confuses, it's impossible not to admire Agnès Godard's glorious photography and the atmospheric soundtrack.

April 1, 2006 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Empire Magazine
An interior epic with epic exteriors, a film with very little dialogue, where the pictures (photographed by the great Agnès Godard), actors and the juxtaposition of both tell the story.

March 31, 2006 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

G. Allen Johnson
San Francisco Chronicle
Never has Denis demanded so much from audiences as with this shimmering enigma, at once intimate and epic, but it's worth the effort and then some.

March 16, 2006 | Rating: 4.5/5 | Full Review…

Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
A beautiful, complex work that challenges viewers to mentally sift interior and exterior journeys.

March 16, 2006 | Full Review…

Jay Weissberg
Variety
The Intruder, however sketchy its plot or character motivations, is lavishly mounted, and will not fail to engage the mind and the eye on the huge Castro screen...

May 11, 2020 | Full Review…

David Lamble
Bay Area Reporter
Quote not available.

March 19, 2013 | Rating: B+

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
A film that's so recondite, it's barely there.

March 1, 2007 | Full Review…

Maria Garcia
Film Journal International
yet another meandering piece of existentialism, signifying nothing except for what you're willing to project onto it.

July 12, 2006 | Rating: 2/5

Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com
It's one of those films where it's best to go with its maddening elegiac but elusive flow and let whatever comes to you be enough.

May 1, 2006 | Rating: B+ | Full Review…

Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
... the emotions and wishes and fears of the human animal thrown large on the screen in primal, lush images.

April 6, 2006 | Rating: A | Full Review…

Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

View All Critic Reviews (30)

Audience Reviews for The Intruder

Mar 29, 2007

[font=Century Gothic]In "The Intruder", Louis(Michel Subor) enjoys spending his days frolicking with his dogs near the French-Swiss border while he spends his nights with a local woman. One night an intruder breaks in, but Louis kills him and quietly disposes of the body. This event along with his weakening health convince him that it is time to move on...[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]Directed by Claire Denis, "The Intruder" is a beautiful but opaque film. Early on, it is not even clear as to who the movie is supposed to be about, as a young border guard's family vies for attention. But the movie does eventually come into focus. Not giving any details about Louis' past mirrors the character's emotional detachment from the world around him.[/font]

Walter M Super Reviewer