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Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Critic Consensus: No consensus yet.
All Critics (35) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (28) | Rotten (7) | DVD (1)
Strange it is, but delightfully so.
Darkly funny and frequently insightful.
An original little film about one young woman's education.
This is a nervy, risky film, and Villeneuve has inspired Croze to give herself over completely to the tormented persona of Bibi.
Maelstrom is strange and compelling, engrossing and different, a moral tale with a twisted sense of humor.
Sensual, funny and, in the end, very touching.
Antiseptic and distantly intellectual.
Not too far below the gloss you can still feel director Denis Villeneuve's beating heart and the fondness he has for his characters.
Most fish stories are a little peculiar, but this is one that should be thrown back in the river.
An oddity, to be sure, but one that you might wind up remembering with a degree of affection rather than revulsion.
An oddly affecting and often darkly funny drama about the randomness of life and the possibility of redemption.
The main story ... is compelling enough, but it's difficult to shrug off the annoyance of that chatty fish.
...
Super Reviewer
As narrated by a fish with its head on the chopping block, "Maelstrom" starts with Bibi(Marie-Josee Croze) having an abortion. Afterwards, her best friend Claire(Stephanie Morgenstern) cares for her while she prays at the porcelain temple. Bibi's work life is not that much better as the Montreal boutique she owns with her partner Philippe(Bobby Beshro) has been having its share of thefts, causing them to hire security guards. That's not to mention the large amount of money she owes. And if you think she is having a bad day, imagine that of the guy(Klimbo) she hits with her car on the way home from a bar. A short time ago, I mentioned that "Rubber" was the oddest movie I had seen in quite a while. That probably has something to do with the lack of Canadian movies I have seen lately. Because "Maelstrom" has it all, including occasional intertitles, a diverse musical score that leans Scandinavian, and a complex chronal storyline which adds perspective. All of which is not as heavy as it sounds. At first, I was prepared to connect Denis Villeneuve's more recent feature "Incendies" to "Maelstrom" through a common theme of how all life is sacred. However, the truth could not be any more different, as the movie is edgily profound in how it states we are all part of the same cycle of life and death, so relax. Notice for example, how matter of factly the abortion scene is filmed, without any judgment, no less. That fits in well with the movie's intelligent thoughts on guilt and forgiveness, as Bibi has a hard time getting completely clean.
Great creative effort by Denis Villeneuve who has grown steadily since undertaking this picture. Not everyone can pull off narration from a fish on the chopping block.
A young woman's life unravels when she has an abortion, then a few days later hits a pedestrian with her car and flees in a panic. MAELSTROM is not for anyone seeking a traditional narrative: it's an arty, surrealistic, impressionistic portrait of guilt, narrated by a fish telling the story with his last breath as he waits to be gutted and turned into seafood.
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