A crackling film noir.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 31, 2022

Stanley Kubrick is in full command of this tightly-paced, tense 84-minute crime thriller.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jul 25, 2022

[Kubrick's] new film bears evidence of a fresh and maturing talent and completely belies the impression given by his earlier efforts -- that of a college boy who, in a semester's turning, had gone from comic books to Oedipus Rex.

Full Review | Mar 28, 2022

The Killing may be a film that sometimes rings hollow. But technically, it stands apart from the rest. This is not the primary reason to be satisfied with it, yet, all things considered, its qualities are such that Kubrick's picture does not disappoint.

Full Review | Dec 7, 2021

Once one has commended the newsreel-style camerawork and Sterling Hayden, there is little left to do but wait, not too impatiently, for Kubrick's next feature, Paths of Glory.

Full Review | Sep 16, 2021

Even at this late date...we're allowed to watch at least the first 20 minutes of the first jewel in director Stanley Kubrick's crown thinking "this isn't all that."

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | May 2, 2021

With intelligent characters, a singular plot, and a practically perfect ending, it's a brilliant early entry for one of cinema's most influential directors.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Aug 23, 2020

The result is one of the year's freshest and most exciting crime dramas, establishing twenty-seven-year-old Stanley Kubrick as a writer-director of impressive talents.

Full Review | Dec 3, 2019

The Killing (1956) is a stylish but stark film noir crime drama, and the definitive heist-caper movie - a story of greed and infidelity. The classic, dark-edged black and white film was 28 year-old writer/director Stanley Kubrick's third film

Full Review | Original Score: A+ | Sep 29, 2019

The first genuinely great film by Stanley Kubrick...

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 15, 2018

Unequivocally represents the genesis of Kubrick's insightful mindset. It is a living, breathing laboratory of precision and control.

Full Review | Aug 24, 2015

This taut crime picture was one of the earliest films in the career of Stanley Kubrick, but something of the director's voice and characteristic preoccupations are already evident here.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 5, 2015

One of the undisputed high-water marks of the American crime film whose reverberations can still be felt in a number of ways.

Full Review | Original Score: 10/10 | Mar 31, 2014

Underneath The Killing's clockwork violence is a pungent layer of irony, something Kubrick would further explore many times later in his career.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Sep 14, 2013

Faultless and enjoyable.

Full Review | Jun 24, 2013

A brisk, satisfying film noir that features all the details of a racetrack heist gone wrong - even if the timeline is all shuffled out of order. It's thick with atmosphere and razor-sharp dialogue.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 27, 2011

Despite this only being his third feature and his first with a significant budget, Kubrick displays many of the thematic preoccupations and visual traits that would come to define his unique, cinematic voice.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 16, 2011

A tight heist thriller from master director Stanley Kubrick.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 15, 2011

Plotted with the kind of Swiss-watch precision and attention to detail that would eventually get Kubrick labeled Hollywood's most notorious perfectionist.

Full Review | Original Score: A | Aug 11, 2011

May be the greatest of American heist films because it bursts the genre to the point of existentialism.

Full Review | Original Score: A+ | Oct 19, 2010