Somersault
Somersault Image
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Metascore
73 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.6 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 8 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
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  • Starring: Abbie Cornish, Lynette Curran, Sam Worthington
  • Summary: An erotic, lyrical depiction of a young girl's sexual awakening, Somersault is a breakthrough debut for both its director and its star. (Magnolia Pictures)

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    100
    Cornish's raw, nuanced performance and Shortland's sympathetic but unsentimental portrayal of Heidi's fumbling steps toward maturity are underscored by Sydney-based band Decoder Ring's catchy, angst-ridden score.
  2. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    80
    This remarkable film from Australia, the debut feature of writer-director Cate Shortland, moves to the lyrical rhythms and unhurried pace of a 1970s road movie.
  3. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Duane Byrge
    80
    With Somersault, filmmaker Cate Shortland has expertly served up a vivid and touching tale, one told many times before, but in this well-realized mounting, one that sparkles with fresh awareness.
  4. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Jessica Letkemann
    50
    Director Shortland frames the story against the apt grey, off-season ski town, but her attempt to match it with deliberate pacing just makes the film feel chilly and too long, just like Heidi's depressing routine.

See all 21 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. PallaviK.
    9
    Visually so powerful. Very moving. Just so.... lovely.
  2. KenG.
    8
    The interesting thing about this very well acted movie is that though it is all under-played (nothing over the top about it) is that it is carried off so well, that the culmative effect of everything that happens is still sad, and quietly powerful.… Expand
  3. ChadS.
    7
    Heidi(Abbie Cornish) does slutty things, but she doesn't come off as being a slut. Heidil is carnivorous, and yet she projects a vulnerability that prevents the audience from turning on her. Even when the girl is at her sluttiest, or to put it more kindly, when Heidi is at the apex of her self-debasement, the potential eroticism of drug-addled promiscuity is neutralized by our recognition that this sex-bomb is largely unformed and hurting. "Sommersault" is like a cross between "Lolita" and "Ruby in Paradise". It's marred somewhat by an overabundance of nudity, and the filmmaker's insistence that Joe(Sam Worthington) is a figure compelling enough that warrants a breakaway from Heidi's narrative.… Expand

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