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Gilles' Wife
Metascore
82 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 14 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
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  1. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    90
    You can't imagine a soapier setup, but Gilles' Wife taken on its own terms is a spectacular achievement, a heartbreaking cinematic work that finely balances melodrama, family love story and devastating tragedy.
  2. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: David Ng
    90
    Devos's performance is an expert workshop of internalized emotions and silent forbearance.
  3. Variety
    Reviewed by: Lisa Nesselson
    90
    Told primarily via body language and facial expressions with a minimum of dialogue, beautifully observed, emotionally intense tale is an ambitious and rewarding outing for Frederic Fonteyne.
  4. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    88
    The ending is a stunner. Like those '30 classics it suggests, Gilles' Wife seduces us with true cinematic magic: rich characters, great acting and that rapturous old French blend of realism and theatricality.
  5. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Marta Barber
    88
    There's a timelessness to her character that makes her real even today. And in Devos' intense portrayal, she's a woman you admire.
  6. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    88
    Cornillac is excellent as the emotionally immature Gilles, but this is Devos' show.
  7. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    80
    All but a silent movie, Frédéric Fonteyne's strikingly atmospheric film - adapted by Philippe Blasband and Marion Hänsel from a 1937 novel - relies on the extraordinarily mobile face of Emmanuelle Devos to express the pain of a woman who has no language for her inner turmoil.
  8. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    80
    An impeccable minimalist drama that's tailored specifically to Devos' expressive capabilities, which say more than the sparse dialogue.
  9. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Robert Abele
    80
    Suffused with a painterly tenderness and cruelty, the French film Gilles' Wife - based on a 1937 Belgian novel by Madeleine Bourdouxhe - stars the extraordinary actress Emmanuelle Devos.
  10. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Reece Pendleton
    80
    While the outcome is never really in doubt, director Frederic Fonteyne illuminates the wife's inner world with a rich sense of atmosphere, and Emmanuelle Devos' riveting performance manages to convey every shift in her character's suppressed emotional life with the subtlest of gestures and expressions.
  11. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    I was fascinated by the face of Emmanuelle Devos, and her face is specifically why I recommend the movie.
  12. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jami Bernard
    75
    This is a lyrical art movie with admittedly limited commercial appeal, but worth seeing for cinematic explorers.
  13. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    75
    Fonteyne doesn't have much use for words. He prefers to tell his story via facial expressions and body language, much as filmmakers did in the silent era.
  14. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    70
    Has an appealing surface beauty, largely due to the talented cinematographer Virginie Saint Martin, and an equally shallow mystery.
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.2 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 6 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. JH
    7
    The acting and directing are first-rate, but I was unable to suspend my disbelief of a story about a woman who had no courage, so I wasn';t fully engaged by this movie.… Full Review »
  2. SherriE.
    6
    That 6 is actually a 9 for technical excellence and a 3 for story. The film is so beautifully photographed, and the acting so fine, that the disappointing story becomes trebly so. Her final decision is so selfish and cruel that it retroactively tainted the preceding 100 minutes.… Full Review »
  3. richard
    7
    I found this film engrossing but frustrating....in the wife's total compliance.
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