Antichrist
Metascore
49 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 34 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 34
  3. Negative: 11 out of 34
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  1. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    33
    Allegorical in the worst ways, Antichrist is about as profound as a slasher movie.
  2. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    30
    Von Trier has said he wanted to make a genre horror picture, but he couldn’t even come up with a decent metaphor: The climax is out of a Grade C hack-’em-up with people chasing each other through the woods with axes and knives.
  3. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: A.O. Scott
    30
    The scandal of Antichrist is not that it is grisly or upsetting but that it is so ponderous, so conceptually thin and so dull.
  4. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    30
    Lars von Trier cuts a big fat art-film fart with Antichrist. As if deliberately courting critical abuse, the Danish bad boy densely packs this theological-psychological horror opus with grotesque, self-consciously provocative images.
  5. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    25
    I'm ripping up my Lars Von Trier fan club card.
  6. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    25
    Antichrist is probably the most disturbing, bleak and self-indulgent film ever made.
  7. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Joe Neumaier
    20
    Von Trier ("Breaking the Waves," "Dogville") has no barriers, which absolutely can be a good thing. Here, though, his uninhibited nature is an omen of the pretentious butchery to come.
  8. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: Joshua Rothkopf
    20
    The new movie is a joke, a toxic cocktail of banal psychobabble, laughably arty slo-mo flourishes and unmotivated sexual violence that only brain-in-jar types could take as a serious statement.
  9. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Betsy Sharkey
    20
    Female sexuality has evolved into pure evil here with Von Trier looking ever so much like the Marquis de Sade of filmmaking.
  10. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Matthew Sorrento
    10
    If only von Trier could work beyond the poster art concept. Antichrist stubbornly fails as a gothic nightmare and meanders as a misanthropic two-character drama.
  11. Slate
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    10
    The last 20 minutes are horrifically violent, relentlessly claustrophobic, and irredeemably pointless. Von Trier has us on the hot seat, and he's going to walk us through his most primitive sexual nightmares--not because they'll bring us to a greater understanding of madness or love or grief, but just because he bloody well feels like it.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 93 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 44
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 44
  3. Negative: 7 out of 44
  1. icemaiden
    10
    I'm not a film person and generally can't sit through them but this one is the exception. Yes, there are gruesome images and scenes of a sexual nature but in my opinion it is all within the context of the story. The first few scenes, in extra slow motion, are incredibly powerful. I defy anyone not to be moved by the opening images, however, I also think you need to understand depression, anxiety and panic attacks, even have personal experience, to fully appreciate what this film is all about. Although graphic in it's adult content, it's not really a film for entertainment, it's deeply thought provoking, shocking and artistic in the most absurd way. The acting is incredible from both characters. If you're looking for a film for sexual or violent gratification don't bother with this. If intellect is your thing, this is for you.… Full Review »
  2. JoshuaS.
    5
    A film that ultimately seems to polarize its viewers, Von Trier's "Antichrist", left me scratching my head. I admired the performers and their courage onscreen, the photography was stunning and moody, but by the end I felt like I had been told 3/4 of a story and wasn't let in on the point. Truth be told, I left more bored with the film philosophically than I left fascinated by the imagery and the acting. Does Von Trier have a point about... I don't know... something? Or is this merely an exercise in self congratulatory film-making where the final product is meant merely for himself? It has an undeniable impact on the audience, but the pointlessness of the film simply left me shrugging my shoulders, not understanding what the fuss was about.… Full Review »
  3. krisztiank
    10
    Ooh. Whenever i read this kind of reviews i am somehow sure that all the classics of cinema - for example movies of Ingmar Bergman - would be rated overall "mixed or average" - if they were made nowadays. In the of movies as Antichrist, the concept of "rating" fails. How would you rate Godard? What would you rate there exactly? eh. Come on. Avatar 84 points? What ARE these reviews about? Joy-factor? With this movie the director clearly spells his truth, even if it´s hard to take. I can´t remember any movie after my teenager years having such an impact, lasting for more than a week. You have to be careful with it, of course. It IS dangerous. But if something in this-layered-cake-looking, cliché-collage film industry can be dangerous to watch - it rather worth to let it work on you - and forget about critical behavior.… Full Review »
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