Calvaire

Play trailer

1:15

Calvaire

2004

1h 34m

Horror

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

47%

Tomatometer

32 Reviews

51%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

A stranded singer falls victim to a dangerously unhinged innkeeper who is determined to keep him captive.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Calvaire (The Ordeal) has a certain amount of grim potential, but loses effectiveness by too often mistaking disturbing gore for genuine horror.

Read Critics Reviews

Wally Hammond

Time Out

11/16/2011

[Du Welz's] art-house experimentation and performance-art approach to ensemble acting sacrifices plausibility in favour of increasingly pretentious surreal black comedy.

Go to Full Review

Philip French

Guardian

01/20/2007

The film is nasty and barely competent.

Go to Full Review

Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

01/11/2007

C

A glossy rehash that's far less interesting and frightening than the classics upon which it's unimaginatively modeled.

Go to Full Review

Arthur Goyaz

Loud and Clear Reviews

08/07/2024

3.5/5

the movie stands out as an atmospheric piece with important things to say, but it always feels like an allegory rather than something authentic.

Go to Full Review

Ygraine Hackett-Cantabrana

The Geek Show (UK)

07/09/2024

Calvaire is a hauntingly grim portrayal of the dangers that a misogynistic society provides for all genders, and with it’s violence, nihilism, and utter lack of hope, it’s a stalwart of the New French Extremity movement.

Go to Full Review

Joel Harley

Starburst

10/27/2023

4/5

Adjacent to the early noughties’ French extremist movement (see also: Martyrs, Inside, Haute Tension), Fabrice Du Welz’s backwoods horror film is surprisingly lacking its peers’ excessive gore but remains the most troubling of them all.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Logan D

@Greynomad38 Dec 21

A few days before Christmas, a singer is stranded and finds respite at a dilapidated inn near a town. He wonders whom he should trust, the innkeeper or the villages. This is not a film for everyone. I think many give it low ratings not because of the quality but the content. There are many disturbing things in this film that viewers will not be able to swallow. I, of course, loved it. Not because of the presence of grotesque social breakdown but watching the slow descent into madness of the protagonist within the surreal logic of the narrative. It doesn't provide comfort. It's brutal, gritty, and not an allegory. Uneven pacing keeps it from being rated higher.

See more

bill f

@BrokerBill Oct 10

Brutal, gripping, tense, disturbing and very weird. I absolutely loved it! On second viewing some time later, even more so. A superbly crafted film that will leave you dumbfounded. Astonishing piece of cinema.

See more

Diana S

@DianaWho 12/17/2024

Kind of a French take on a '70s backcountry slasher, which while not my favorite kind of horror movie, this is as good as any of them really. It's grotesque and macabre and at times absurd. Ultimately entertaining enough.

See more

Jerod S

@jeroduptown 08/13/2024

It's like a french version of "The Hills Have Eyes" - minus the grotesque facial features. The town this singer gets stuck in has a bunch of inbred dudes.

See more

colin m

@RT35044827 02/27/2022

("Calvaire" / "The Ordeal" ) I enjoyed it.

See more

10/10/2021

Calvaire (The Ordeal). Unsympathetic, strangely perverse and deeply unsettling. Yet beautifully shot, thematically complex and diabolically humorous. How many films have pulled that off? A film that has stuck with me for 15 years and one that probably took as long to fully appreciate. Genuinely dreadful.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Fabrice Du Welz

Director

Laurent Lucas

Marc Stevens

Jackie Berroyer

Bartel

Philippe Nahon

Robert Orton

Jean-Luc Couchard

Boris

Gigi Coursigny

Madame Langhoff

Attack of the Giant Leeches

64%

19%

Attack of the Giant Leeches

Watchlist

Mad Cowgirl

33%

89%

Mad Cowgirl

Watchlist

Cabin Fever

62%

44%

Cabin Fever

Watchlist

Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde

86%

65%

Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde

Watchlist

Hell's Highway

43%

39%

Hell's Highway

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Critical Consensus: "Nativity" Is Too Safe; "Turistas" Not Worth Trip

Critical Consensus: "Fire" Blazes; "Scissors" Isn’t Sharp Enough; "Saw III" Not Screened: Guess The Tomatometer!

Critical Consensus: A Brave New "World," A "Step" Down, And No Screenings for "Pulse" and "Zoom"

Calvaire: Re-Mastered Trailer 1

1:15

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

A stranded singer falls victim to a dangerously unhinged innkeeper who is determined to keep him captive.

Director: Fabrice Du Welz
Producer: Michaël Gentile, Vincent Tavier, Eddy Géradon-Luyckx
Screenwriter: Fabrice Du Welz, Romain Protat
Distributor: Palm Pictures
Production Co: Backup Films, Studio Canal
Genre: Horror
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Theaters): May 18, 2004, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Feb 24, 2023
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 3, 2023
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.6K
Runtime: 1h 34m

Most Popular at Home Now