The Imposter Reviews
September 19, 2018
Director Bart Layton pieces together a story you wouldn't believe if it wasn't true.
August 30, 2017
More than anything it's Layton's storytelling acumen that impresses - the movie unfolds like a psychological thriller, and in the second half effects a chilling twist on its own inherent implausibility.
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
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
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
August 31, 2012
You may begin to wonder if you aren't being conned by the movie yourself.
August 24, 2012
Incredibly well-made and with a story you won't forget, "The Imposter" is one of the better docs of the season.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4.0/5.0
August 24, 2012
The Imposter emerges as a brilliantly slippery film that demands brain-stretching consideration. Astonishing, indeed.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
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
August 24, 2012
"The Imposter" is one of the best films of the year.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/4
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
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
August 23, 2012
Think of Clint Eastwood's Changeling and multiply by the power of reality.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
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
August 20, 2012
The year's most fascinating and frightening doc so far, The Imposter delves far beneath the hysterical tabloid headlines.
Full Review
| Original Score: 5/5
August 17, 2012
It's both preposterous and horrific, and therein lies its powerful, disquieting charm.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
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
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
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
August 10, 2012
This is one creepy mystery.
Full Review
| Original Score: B