The Imposter Reviews

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Top Critic
Brad Newsome
Sydney Morning Herald
September 19, 2018
Director Bart Layton pieces together a story you wouldn't believe if it wasn't true.
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Top Critic
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
October 12, 2012
In the annals of forged identity flicks, this is a towering Everest, dwarfing the deceivers in the likes of Catch Me If You Can and F for Fake.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4
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Linda Barnard
Toronto Star
October 11, 2012
This is edge-of-your-seat stuff and the difficulty is in the telling of the tale. To give any of this film away is a crime. You simply have to see it for yourself.
Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4
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Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald
September 13, 2012
The most fascinating aspect of the movie is why the missing boy's family believed the imposter's story.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4
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J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
August 31, 2012
You may begin to wonder if you aren't being conned by the movie yourself.
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Derek Malcolm
London Evening Standard
August 24, 2012
British director Bart Layton has only slightly fictionalised this extraordinary story for his documentary, which is told more as a thriller than a statement of hard fact.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5
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Calvin Wilson
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
August 24, 2012
"The Imposter" is one of the best films of the year.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/4
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Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
August 23, 2012
When this film was over, I felt as if I had been holding my breath for 99 minutes. It is pure, delicious suspense.
Full Review | Original Score: 5/5
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Sophie Monks Kaufman
Little White Lies
August 23, 2012
The mysteries stick with you. In 20 years time, someone will leap up and shout, "Eureka!"
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5
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Trevor Johnston
Time Out
August 21, 2012
You couldn't make this stuff up - and no one would buy it as fiction. But as a documentary, it's a different matter.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5
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Mark Feeney
Boston Globe
August 16, 2012
Beverly Dollarhide, Nicholas's mother, says of the period after her son's disappearance, "My main goal in life at that time was not to think." Apparently, the filmmakers have taken a cue from her.
Full Review | Original Score: 2/4
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Tirdad Derakhshani
Philadelphia Inquirer
August 16, 2012
Layton's dazzling film is an exciting, edge-of-your-seat experience superior to any Hollywood mystery you're likely to see for a long time.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/4
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Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic
August 16, 2012
"The Imposter" becomes more than just a missing-persons drama. It hints at something much darker: a real-life horror story, the full truth of which may never be known.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5
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Peter Rainer
Christian Science Monitor
August 10, 2012
This is one creepy mystery.
Full Review | Original Score: B
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Mark Jenkins
Washington Post
August 10, 2012
"The Imposter" initially seems to be a tutorial in identity theft, as well as a cautionary tale about the susceptibility of people who have lost a loved one. But that's not the half of it.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4
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Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times
August 9, 2012
It's ... practically unbelievable, but you won't be able to look away.
Original Score: 3.5/4
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Amy Biancolli
San Francisco Chronicle
August 2, 2012
This is as much a film about self-deception as it is about deception, and as such, it is a study in pain.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4
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Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
August 2, 2012
This is a train wreck you think you see coming, but no matter how prepared you are the nature and extent of the damage will overwhelm you.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5
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Rafer Guzman
Newsday
July 26, 2012
As fiction, it would never fly. But "The Imposter" happens to be true, and it's a jaw-dropper.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4
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David Denby
New Yorker
July 23, 2012
The movie is fascinating, but it leaves you uneasy, because you don't always know who you're watching (actor? family member?), and you begin to feel that you're being scammed, too.
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