Intact
Metascore
59 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 25 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 25
  3. Negative: 3 out of 25
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  1. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Richard Harrington
    90
    Mesmerizing art-noirish thriller.
  2. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    88
    Plays out like a sprinter competing in his first distance race: It bursts forth with tremendous energy, sustains itself for quite a while, loses steam near the end but finishes ahead of most of the pack.
  3. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Sean Axmaker
    83
    Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo creates the same world of devils and innocents that grounds so much of Spain's modern, seeped-in-Satanic-evil horror, recast in a secular cinematic vocabulary.
  4. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Mark Olsen
    80
    The story is bound together with gaming set pieces that are strange, inventive and mesmerizing.
  5. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    80
    A sharp brainteaser of a film, a compelling mind game you compulsively play along with.
  6. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    80
    The latest movie from Spain to use the conventions of the thriller to explore knotty and fascinating philosophical questions.
  7. Variety
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Holland
    80
    A self-aware, intriguing and technically accomplished fantasy thriller firmly in the Hollywood tradition, Intact has a confidence and expertise not seen from a Spanish tyro since Alejandro Amenabar's "Thesis" (1996).
  8. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    75
    The story of this Spanish thriller is weak in psychological credibility but strong in suspense, novelty, and imagination.
  9. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    75
    Intriguing, provocative stuff.
  10. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Kim Morgan
    75
    Effectively thrilling.
  11. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Tim Merrill
    70
    Devilishly clever and boasting a killer finale, Intacto is this year's "Memento" -- only Spanish.
  12. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    67
    Intriguing and stylish.
  13. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    67
    Somewhere in this broody ''Twilight Zone''-ish story about magical thinking (and the lure, to filmmakers, of garish casino culture) is a provocative and maybe even shocking thought on the Holocaust as a crapshoot.
  14. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    63
    I admired Intacto more than I liked it, for its ingenious construction and the way it keeps a certain chilly distance between its story and the dangers of popular entertainment.
  15. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Loren King
    63
    Mix of stylish action and meta-musings, provides plenty of confusing, satisfying surprises, though it could have used more tightness and punch.
  16. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    63
    Depending on your personal tastes, Intacto will either be an ambitious concoction of cerebral science-fiction or a towering pile of nonsense. The truth lies somewhere in between.
  17. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    63
    First-time feature director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's dark, complex allegory about luck, chance and fate is one of the year's most morbidly fascinating foreign films.
  18. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    63
    The movie pits fortune against destiny and has an enigmatic old time splitting the difference.
  19. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    63
    Shot mostly at night, in high-contrast images, punctuated by rock-video collages, Intacto is nothing if not hip, but its questions are more coffee-shop hypothetical than genuinely profound.
  20. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    60
    Consistently absorbing -- thanks in large part to strong performances from the actors -- but not particularly rewarding.
  21. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    40
    Fresnadillo's film is little more than a gloomy and attenuated Twilight Zone episode, reminiscent of Alex Cox's portentous "The Winner" (1997) without the truly breathtaking conclusion.
  22. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Michael Atkinson
    40
    It's a shame that, somewhere in his mystagogical handstanding, Fresnadillo forgot the real world.
  23. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    25
    A convoluted, pointless thriller that wastes the considerable talent of Max von Sydow.
  24. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    25
    Convoluted.
  25. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    20
    The film's a swell way of torturing yourself for 108 minutes.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.2 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 10 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. RichN.
    9
    A film with tunning visuals and full of imagination and suspense. There are some scenes in this film that'll forever stick with you (and remain in your unconsciousness). You'll always be able to recall those "certain" moments.… Full Review »
  2. ChadS.
    8
    Since the men and women in this bizarro world has luck on their side, "Intacto" could've been a thinking man's "X-Men", but these people are too self-absorbed; too passionate about the lucrative "silly-games-that-makes-paintball-look-cerebral" market. It's Samuel(Max Von Sydow), a concentration camp survivor turned evil(sound familiar?), which will remind some of the 20th Century Fox franchise, helmed in short order by Brian Singer(yay!) and Brett Ratner(boo!). Only Sara(Monica Lopez) fits the bill of being superhero-like. As a recently widowed cop, Sara is not in the game for herself, she's trying to bring a fugitive(Tomas, played by Leonardo Sbaraglia) to justice. Tomas(who has proven himself as seasoned in cheating death) could rush into burning buildings to save babies instead of being pimped around by Federico(Eusebio Poncela) on the "silly-games-that..."-circuit. "Intacto" isn't about good-versus-evil, but the matchup exists on the periphery(Sara(good) waits on the sidelines when Samuel(evil) dukes it out with Tomas). "Intacto" is a film about greed, extrapolated(there's a faint sci-fi element to this story), to highlight the anti-philanthropist ways of the super-rich, who'd rather indulge in the most trivial of pursuits than help other people.… Full Review »
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