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Under the Sand
WinStar Cinema


8.7

based on 24 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 14 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

Internet Movie Database

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Charlotte Rampling, Bruno Cremer, Jacques Nolot, Alexandra Stewart, Pierre Vernier, and Andrée Tainsy

For years, Marie (Rampling) and Jean (Cremer) have happily spent their vacation together in the Landes region of western France. But this summer, while Marie naps on the beach, her husband vanishes without a trace.

GENRE(S):	Romance
WRITTEN BY:	Emmanuelle Bernheim François Ozon Marcia Romano Marina de Van
DIRECTED BY:	François Ozon
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: November 13, 2001 Video: November 13, 2001 Theatrical: May 4, 2001
RUNNING TIME:	96 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	France
LANGUAGE(S):	French (with English subtitles)

Also known as "Sous le Sable"

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...

100

Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson

Ozon -- has finally hit a home run, and Rampling is his most remarkable RBI.

100

Washington Post Desson Thomson

It's a great pleasure that -- we get to ponder one of the most involving psychological mysteries in recent memory.

100

Boston Globe Loren King

Mesmerizing and unforgettable.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

Fascinating, visually gorgeous cinematic study that will frustrate some viewers by its ambiguity.

Variety Derek Elley

An exquisite reflection on personal bereavement.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Requires careful attention at its abrupt finish. Close concentration on the final shots yields a meaning not possible should a viewer's attention wander or turn away a few moments too soon.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Powerfully enigmatic study of the fundamental opacity of human relations.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

It's a role of fierce demands, and Rampling meets them all. In a summer of crass, Rampling is a true class act.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Mr. Ozon gives the movie to Ms. Rampling, whose performance is like a perfectly executed piano etude, finding precise, impossibly subtle shadings of pleasure, confusion and distress.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Charlotte Rampling takes you so far inside the pain of Marie Drillon it leaves you stirred, shaken and a little in awe.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Manages the most delicate of hat tricks: It gives definition to uncertainty.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Ozon has crafted a near-perfect film, a mournful, moving kind of cinema poetry.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A movie of introspection and defiance.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Ozon specializes in dissecting the vulnerability, erotic longing, and garbled intentions with which people regularly rub up against one another.

Village Voice Amy Taubin

Rampling has never been as beautiful, not to mention as emotionally naked, nuanced, and affecting as she is here.

TV Guide Frank Lovece

The film ends with a return to the beach, and one of the most psychologically chilling and expertly photographed shots imaginable.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

Creepily evocative.

New Times (L.A.) Bill Gallo

A beautifully acted, carefully written meditation on one woman's grief, the enigma of imagination, the persistence of desire and -- let's face it -- the power of denial.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Rampling's authority over splintered emotions has the force of revelation.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Unexpectedly subtle cinematic style.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

A fascinating movie that explores grief from an emotionally truthful angle rarely seen in movies.

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

This is Rampling's film, and she's never less than surprising, never less than a revelation.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

It stays in your memory, will not leave you in peace.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

A sensitive and subtle meditation on aging, loss and bereavement.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 14 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

David R. gave it a10:
This is amongst the best of French Cinema. Charlotte rampling gives an exquisite performance of a lover in denial. Worth watching more than once.

John G gave it a10:
Beautifully introspective and subtle. Under The Sand tells the poignant but sad story of a woman struggling to cope with the sudden disappearance of her beloved husband. This film quietly studies the effects of lost love.

Jeff M. gave it a 6:
There's an interesting idea for a movie somewhere in this material, but for the most part it left me cold and generally uninvolved. How much time had passed between his disapearance and the dinner party that she attended and met her eventual lover? What explanation had her friends/lover received regarding his death? If we knew these details, then perhaps their reaction to her state of denial would have had more purpose to it.

Paula W. gave it a 9:
Great stuff. Charlotte Rampling is brilliant as a woman whose sanity falters under the strain of grief and uncertainty after her husband disappears one day on a beach in southwestern France. A film packed with style and genuine emotion.

Herschel T. gave it an 8:
It's a painful movie to watch, which is to its credit, but the casting and realism are a "10."

Robert B. gave it a 7:
I'm not quite sure why all of these critics rate this movie so highly. I think this appeals mostly to the 40 over crowd. I'm 26, so it wasn't too entertaining on a Saturday night.

Gregg V. gave it a 10:
Fascinating. Who says there aren't any good parts for "older" women?

Under the Sand WinStar Cinema

Under the Sand
WinStar Cinema