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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Under the Sand

Universal acclaim
Based on 24 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 14 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Romance
Written by:
Emmanuelle Bernheim
François Ozon
Marcia Romano
Marina de Van
Directed by: François Ozon
Release Date:
Theatrical: May 4, 2001
DVD: November 13, 2001
Running Time: 96 minutes, Color
Origin: France
Summary
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.
Also On Metacritic
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Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
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...
Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson
Ozon -- has finally hit a home run, and Rampling is his most remarkable RBI.
Washington Post Desson Thomson
It's a great pleasure that -- we get to ponder one of the most involving psychological mysteries in recent memory.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak
Fascinating, visually gorgeous cinematic study that will frustrate some viewers by its ambiguity.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Powerfully enigmatic study of the fundamental opacity of human relations.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Manages the most delicate of hat tricks: It gives definition to uncertainty.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Ozon has crafted a near-perfect film, a mournful, moving kind of cinema poetry.
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Ozon specializes in dissecting the vulnerability, erotic longing, and garbled intentions with which people regularly rub up against one another.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Amy Taubin
Rampling has never been as beautiful, not to mention as emotionally naked, nuanced, and affecting as she is here.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
Rampling's authority over splintered emotions has the force of revelation.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
A fascinating movie that explores grief from an emotionally truthful angle rarely seen in movies.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann
This is Rampling's film, and she's never less than surprising, never less than a revelation.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
It stays in your memory, will not leave you in peace.
Read Full Review >New York Post V.A. Musetto
A sensitive and subtle meditation on aging, loss and bereavement.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
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?
