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Covenant, The
Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Releasing


6.4

based on 16 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 113 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some disturbing images, sexual content, partial nudity and language

Starring Steven Strait, Sebastian Stan, Toby Hemingway, Chace Crawford, Taylor Kitsch, Laura Ramsey, Jessica Lucas, and Wendy Crewson

Privilege and beauty abound at Spenser Academy, a New England boarding school for the region's reigning elite. Directed by Renny Harlin, The Covenant tells the story of the Sons of Ipswich, four young students bound by their sacred ancestry. As descendants of the original families who settled in Ipswich Colony in the 1600's, the boys have all been born with special powers. When a fifth descendant suddenly moves to town, secrets begin to unravel which threaten to break the covenant of silence that has protected their families for hundreds of years. (Sony)

GENRE(S):	Horror \| Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	J.S. Cardone
DIRECTED BY:	Renny Harlin
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: January 2, 2007 Theatrical: September 8, 2006
RUNNING TIME:	97 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Philadelphia Inquirer David Hiltbrand

Harlin, with his customary visual brio, has created a film that is deliriously watchable. It's just not all that interesting. In the end, The Covenant is simply a glossier version of TV's "Charmed."

Empire Helen O'Hara

Utterly stupid and full of lazy plotting and lazier dialogue, this is just idiotic enough to entertain on nights when you want to give your brain a rest.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Profoundly mediocre supernatural thriller.

New York Post Kyle Smith

When the villain is revealed, you are neither surprised nor scared. You just think, "That guy?"

Boston Globe Ty Burr

The Covenant is dopey, formulaic stuff for the Friday night fright crowd. Worse for them, it's never remotely scary.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Amelie Gillette

Okay, so it isn't challenging. There are worse things for a horror-thriller about supernatural high-schoolers to not be. Like not scary. Or not thrilling. Or not as entertaining as an episode of "Charmed."

LA Weekly Luke Y. Thompson

The idiocy and sheer laziness of the whole concept ought to be the sort of thing director Renny Harlin (Deep Blue Sea) could make into glorious cinematic cheese, and occasionally he cuts loose with a swarm of CGI spiders or a final battle that resembles nothing more than a live action game of "Street Fighter II." But he's hamstrung by the PG-13 rating and the budget.

Los Angeles Times Michael Ordona

As boredom sets in, the viewer realizes that "The Covenant" does possess one magical power: It afflicts its audience with restless leg syndrome.

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

For the most part, the proceedings are slow, solemn and tedious.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

It fails utterly as a horror picture, although it delivers plenty of PG-13-rated flesh and unintentional laughs.

Variety Justin Chang

Muddled and most unmagical offering.

Entertainment Weekly Gregory Kirshling

Cobbled-together teenybopper tripe.

Austin Chronicle Josh Rosenblatt

Surely nothing Hollywood did in its darkest, most debauched hour could possibly justify the penance we're paying that allows Harlin to continue directing movies.

Chicago Reader Reece Pendleton

Crushingly dull teen horror flick.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Director Renny Harlin, whose colon-studded credits include "Die Hard 2: Die Harder" and "Exorcist: The Beginning," knows the deal here: Pay homoerotic homage to youth and beauty, crank up the heavy metal on the soundtrack, and spare no effort to backlight the omnipresent rain.

The New York Times Nathan Lee

That's the one with a car that explodes and gets put back together by magic, right? Yeah, that’s pretty much the coolest part.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.4 (out of 10) based on 113 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Michael R. gave it a1:
I liked the concept of the movie but it flat out made me disappointed.

Ashley gave it a10:
I really enjoyed this movie, i hope there is a sequel because it was thrilling and it had a great effects and the movie had a great plot.

Haley A. gave it an8:
This movie was not great, but I liked it a lot for what it was. I really honestly enjoyed it, it was simply a fun movie to watch. I really wish that it would have been longer and they would have taken the story somewhere though. It seems as if they skipped right to the climax of the "plot" before it had any build-up at all. My guess is it's a perfect movie for 15-16 year olds to watch during a girls night.

[Anonymous] gave it a4:
C'mon, this movie was not as bad as the wicker man or little man. (here's a thought, just be glad there was no little wicker man) very predictable and trite, but not so bad that i could not watch or felt pissed at the end of it like wicker man. Just a mediocre movie with some eye candy for little girls and boys.

Dav W. gave it an8:
I really don't know what all you people are complaining about; this isn't a really cerebral movie, it's just an action flick with good special effects, a semi-interesting plot and a cool fight scene at the end. I dont know about you but it delievers what I expected of it and it's not bad for an action flick.

Kevin J gave it a1:
I'm giving this movie one star for some of the special effects and tantalizing near-naked shots of the women. Otherwise, this is possibly the worst movie ever made. Had a good premise but the director and scriptwriter dropped the ball. The ending leaves open the chance for a Part II. May GOD spare us the agony!!

P Ray gave it a2:
What the hell happened to this... It spends a good half hour setting things up for what could be a really nice teen supernatural thriller, then its like they ran out of time or their was a strike by the script writers. It just seems to speed up just to get throught the basic need for character interaction to get to the end. Its like the studio said we want it out now, and it has to be 70 mins long or something. Its a real shame, as the guys who did the sets made everything look nice and set the mood real well, they seem to have taken a lot more care than everyone else did, the direction is awful, the casting is mediocre, soundtrack dismal. This could have been a new Lost Boys, or The Craft instead it ends up running like a tv pilot. With no script, and a plot written by dumb and dumber? Why the studio didnt make more of this rather missed opportunity seems beyond me, a waste of time and efforts all round. Could have given a whole lot of money to starving people in africa. If you are going to do something, why they hell not do it properly.

Covenant, The Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Releasing

Covenant, The
Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Releasing