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Heading South
User Score
7.1 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 14 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 14
  3. Negative: 3 out of 14

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  1. KenG.
    Aug 10, 2006
    4
    Nothing really works here. Much of film is simply too dull, and talky, with little going on, until it makes a belated, and rather clumpsy attempt to drag itself into thriller territory late in the story. Also, the characters aren't really well drawn, (accept for Rampling). Young's character is seriously underwritten. You get little sense that anyone was giving much thought to her character, as she almost comes off as a silly romance novel heroine, as the lonely woman, feverishly determined to recapture the lone organism of her live, with her dream lover. Please, couldn't they have just made her a woman looking to reconnect with the guy she had great sex with? And her "dream lover" is too much of a blank page to make it believeable that both Young and Rampling would be madly in love with him. The fact that he was a blank page, might have been filmmaker's point. That the women didn't care who he was, they just wanted to use him. But it doesn't work. And the plump French woman, just seems to be hanging around the movie for no particular reason. The filmmakers simply weren't as interested in developing their story and characters, as they were in delivering messages about women, sexual tourism, exploitation, and colonization.… Expand
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  2. SaraS.
    Jul 21, 2006
    7
    good, but could have gone farther. charlotte kicks ass as usual.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. KenE.
    Jul 20, 2006
    10
    Complex, intelligent, brilliant.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  4. JeB.
    Jul 23, 2006
    3
    great actors, fascinating locatiion--terrible script. so bad, it's laughable. no believeable characters. these over 40 women have no lives. apparently, their only pleasure is screwing young black men. dialogue that makes one's eyes roll to the back of the head. was hoping for a political film abt. Haiti in the 70s. this is a film made by aging males with an ax to grind.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  5. StuartS.
    Oct 21, 2006
    8
    This film is about sex but if you think this is a "sexy" film you will be surprised. A profound look about a subject I knew nothing about in a world before the AIDS crisis.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  6. MartinB.
    Jul 18, 2006
    9
    A well acted, non-formula story depicting exploitation of poor, sexual longing, ageing, race, and political repression in an exotic locale.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  7. FredG.
    Jul 22, 2006
    3
    This won't be a full review, because I left the film early. This movie should be seen by anyone who's looking to see how sad middle aged women treat themselves and poor young men. Ironically, this story could be set in the US and in modern times. Many men and women marry for money, and sex comes along with that commitment. Although not married, these women supply money and clothes in exchange for sex and companionship. This is movie is disappointing on many fronts and was not entertaining or interesting enough for me to sit through. It felt like a documentary crossed with a sleazy sex story. Neither worked. Save your time and money.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  8. GeorgeR.
    Jul 23, 2006
    2
    great fertile material, excavated wonderfully for the first forty minutes and then it completely pooped out on itself, becoming laughably bad. more like an essay than a compelling narrative. and then more like pure nonsense than a movie. pity - the theater was packed with disappointed hopefuls, spurred on by critics.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  9. FredM.
    Feb 19, 2007
    10
    The film's theme - middle age female sexual tourists in the hellish Haiti of the 1970s - will undoubtedly be misunderstood by those seeking a conventional fantasy island romance or a political thriller. The story develops in a rather simplistic way presenting its characters without being judgmental at a pace commesurable to the island life. Its portrait of white women in their 50s paying poor young black men for sex and the murderous brutality of the Haitian political regime is presented realistically without melodrama. It is refreshing to see a film attempting to capture life in Haiti as it really was without resorting to Hollywood fakery and not being afraid of presenting older women driven by sexual desire.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
73 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 26 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 26
  3. Negative: 0 out of 26
  1. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    70
    The film tackles more than it can master, but it's never less than fascinating, and all three leads are exceptional.
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  2. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Phil Hall
    100
    Cantet weaves a dark, disturbing story of hedonism, casual racism and the lethal consequences of self-indulgence in his superb drama Heading South.
    Read full review
  3. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Ray Bennett
    60
    Cantet keeps a lid on a story that he could have easily exploited, but he makes his points about beauty, fulfillment, self-indulgence and delusion with a measured hand.
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