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The unsettling Imperium boasts troublingly timely themes and a talented cast led by Daniel Radcliffe as an undercover FBI agent infiltrating a ring of white supremacists.
All Critics (70) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (59) | Rotten (11) | DVD (1)
It seems unnervingly accurate for anxious times. Sep 30, 2016 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
It seems unnervingly accurate for anxious times.
Peter Howell
As the baddies get nicer - or at least quieter - the plot slackens and Ragussis plods his way through a transparent three-act structure towards a less-than-thrilling denouement. Sep 30, 2016 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…
As the baddies get nicer - or at least quieter - the plot slackens and Ragussis plods his way through a transparent three-act structure towards a less-than-thrilling denouement.
Kate Taylor
In the end, Imperium is fairly gripping entertainment that overcomes its faults. It brings nothing new to the table. But chalk up another unlikely win for Radcliffe. Sep 29, 2016 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
In the end, Imperium is fairly gripping entertainment that overcomes its faults. It brings nothing new to the table. But chalk up another unlikely win for Radcliffe.
Jim Slotek
Daniel Ragussis's direction is clunky -- endless news montages of Hitler fans, Ku Klux Klansmen and skinheads marching the streets do little to build the story. Sep 23, 2016 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…
Daniel Ragussis's direction is clunky -- endless news montages of Hitler fans, Ku Klux Klansmen and skinheads marching the streets do little to build the story.
Kate Muir
Radcliffe, a good actor in other parts, seems absolutely miscast. Sep 23, 2016 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…
Radcliffe, a good actor in other parts, seems absolutely miscast.
David Sexton
This might have worked better as longform TV; a box set length could give the excellent Collette more to do. Sep 22, 2016 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…
This might have worked better as longform TV; a box set length could give the excellent Collette more to do.
Peter Bradshaw
Aside from Daniel Radcliffe's superb central performance, Imperium's strong core comes from director Daniel Ragussis' depiction of malign normalcy. Mar 13, 2019 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
Aside from Daniel Radcliffe's superb central performance, Imperium's strong core comes from director Daniel Ragussis' depiction of malign normalcy.
Bertie Archer
This is the kind of movie that uses the tagline "inspired by real events" to its best advantage, and using it to craft a compelling narrative that eschews bright shiny things and dares to take us on a journey into the worst impulses of the human heart. Jan 28, 2019 | Rating: 9/10 | Full Review…
This is the kind of movie that uses the tagline "inspired by real events" to its best advantage, and using it to craft a compelling narrative that eschews bright shiny things and dares to take us on a journey into the worst impulses of the human heart.
Andrea Thompson
A rather generic undercover thriller, Imperium still works with an engaging story set within an ugly subculture in American life that has become resurgent in recent years. Oct 31, 2018 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
A rather generic undercover thriller, Imperium still works with an engaging story set within an ugly subculture in American life that has become resurgent in recent years.
Sean Mulvihill
Imperium mostly stays its course. As an exploration of hate in America, it is both wide-ranging and scarily believable, and as a depiction of grungy, ground-level undercover endeavors, it generally feels like the real deal. Oct 23, 2018 | Rating: B | Full Review…
Imperium mostly stays its course. As an exploration of hate in America, it is both wide-ranging and scarily believable, and as a depiction of grungy, ground-level undercover endeavors, it generally feels like the real deal.
Abbie Bernstein
Ragussis delivers a solid little thriller worthy of the cast who agreed to participate in it. Aug 28, 2018 | Rating: 3.2/5 | Full Review…
Ragussis delivers a solid little thriller worthy of the cast who agreed to participate in it.
Andrew Parker
I'm a great admirer of Daniel Radcliffe's valiant attempts to put Harry Potter behind him, but he is disastrously miscast in Imperium. Oct 18, 2017 | Rating: 1/5 | Full Review…
I'm a great admirer of Daniel Radcliffe's valiant attempts to put Harry Potter behind him, but he is disastrously miscast in Imperium.
Matthew Bond
Daniel Radcliffe surprises with his intense performance as an FBI agent gone undercover to infiltrate a white supremacist group. The story staggers at times, but this is a timely topic given the rise of these terror groups. Recommended.
Super Reviewer
After Kill Your Darlings, What If and Horns, Daniel Radcliffe continues to impress in his post-Harry Potter career, with a nuanced, layered turn as an undercover FBI operative tasked to infiltrate a neo-Nazi group. The film itself is slightly less than the sum of its lead and co-lead's (a reliably brilliant Toni Collette) fine work. But there are some wonderfully tense moments, and a genuinely superb and unexpectedly simple ending.
With strong performances by Collette and Radcliffe (even if Radcliffe is uneven at times), "Imperium" is a well paced and nuanced thriller set in the milieu of white separatist domestic terrorism. The tale is utterly chilling and well worth watching.
Standard thriller with some curiosities to enliven the proceedings: Radcliffe, an Englishman plays a Yankee, and does okay at it, while Collette, his co-star and a Aussie, plays one as well. Once dithering past the question of why was that casting decision made is practically the very nearly usual plotline about undercover police work. Ride this one for the star power alone, if that's your option.
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