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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Covenant, The

EMAILPRINTColumbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Releasing

Covenant, The reviews
19
6.4 User Score:

Overwhelming dislike

Based on 16 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 118 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Horror  |  Suspense/Thriller

Written by: J.S. Cardone

Directed by: Renny Harlin

Release Date:
Theatrical: September 8, 2006
DVD: January 2, 2007

Running Time: 97 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

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)

What The Critics Said

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...

63

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."

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40

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.

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38

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Profoundly mediocre supernatural thriller.

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38

New York Post Kyle Smith

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

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38

Boston Globe Ty Burr

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

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33

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."

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30

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.

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30

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.

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30

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

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

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25

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

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

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20

Variety Justin Chang

Muddled and most unmagical offering.

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16

Entertainment Weekly Gregory Kirshling

Cobbled-together teenybopper tripe.

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11

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.

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10

Chicago Reader Reece Pendleton

Crushingly dull teen horror flick.

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10

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.

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10

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.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 6.4 (out of 10) based on 118 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Emeric C. gave it a5:
It would've been a good movie they've been thinking a little bit more about the plot. Like in the beginning, why did the cops chase them? Or about the darklings?

Jon gave it a10:
One of the best movies I've seen.

wolf fang gave it a10:
it was AWSOME!!!! i luved it the special effects where just WICKED!!!!! an the guys were so HOT!!! please make a seconed one

Cristine gave it a10:
I thought the movie was good, Everybody is complaining how it should have been darker and more scary....But come on people, from all the Saw sequels GIVE IT A REST! I loved the concept of the power being addictive, and it aging the body. If magic were real I honestly believe it would be addictive to the big bads of this world. Can't wait till the sequel comes out!!!!!!!

hannah gave it a4:
This was the saddest thing i've seen in so long....the only reason i watched it (several times) is because the guys were hot. Chace Crawford had about 20 words in the entire film, Steven Strait and Sabastian Stan were basically the same character, and they basically just strutted around half naked blabbering on about nothing. By the end, i had no idea what was going on, and why everything was happening, i watched it over and over, trying to figue out what evreyone was talking about (and they did alot of talking) at the nd of the day, all you can really hope for is a strange movie where you don't have to concentrate, and can just stare at some eye candy for 90 minutes.

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.

Valerie P gave it an8:
I thought it was okay but what helped me get through it was the cute guys and the locker room scene. :)

Read more user comments >

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