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The Deep End
Metascore
78 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
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  1. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    100
    Exquisitely made with a mesmerizing sense of style, it shows the wonderful things that can happen when traditional material is both handled with care and adroitly updated.
  2. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    100
    An extraordinarily riveting drama.
  3. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: A.O. Scott
    90
    Fastidious and smart, and Ms. Swinton's fixated intensity isn't ever remote; we're always aware of how deeply she's feeling. Her work is magnificent.
  4. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Schickel
    90
    Elegantly made, romantically doomy, curiously affecting movie.
  5. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    90
    A thriller with a quietly sensational performance by Tilda Swinton.
    All this critic's reviews
  6. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Rita Kempley
    90
    The real story lies beneath the surface of this superbly acted, strangely moving film.
  7. New Times (L.A.)
    Reviewed by: Andy Klein
    90
    An exciting, sharply realized melodramatic film noir, based on Elizabeth Sanxay Holding's novel "The Blank Wall."
  8. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    88
    It's intense and involving, and it doesn't let us go.
  9. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    88
    Remains rooted in the real world, which makes its story all the more satisfying -- and chilling.
  10. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Jay Carr
    88
    A perfect example of a small, well-made, and (in its central role) rivetingly acted film.
    All this critic's reviews
  11. Mr. Showbiz
    Reviewed by: Kevin Maynard
    80
    Goran Visnjic is such a sensitive, non-menacing gentleman that any woman would want him as her own personal blackmailer.
    All this critic's reviews
  12. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    80
    The Deep End doesn't have a knotty message, but it's a much more meaningful picture than "Suture."
  13. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    80
    A fetchingly improbable match of material and directors.
  14. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    80
    Springs surprises that entertain and provoke.
  15. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    80
    Taking film noir material and turning it inside out visually and morally, The Deep End is an absorbing, beautifully made melodrama that succeeds on formal levels more than it does with suspense or emotion.
  16. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Kimberley Jones
    78
    Swinton is heartbreaking. She's not just craft; she's high art.
  17. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    75
    Swinton single-handedly carries The Deep End past its nagging ambiguities.
  18. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jami Bernard
    75
    Delicious, intelligent thriller.
  19. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    75
    An intelligent, extremely well-acted thriller about a mother's endless love for her son.
  20. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    75
    The resulting film is nobly ridiculous and ridiculously noble, doing everything in its power to subvert the dross it's fooling around with.
  21. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Dennis Lim
    70
    Swinton provides her own brand of incandescence, doubling as the film's aching heart and its center of gravity.
  22. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    70
    Watchable enough on its own terms.
  23. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    67
    Displays a promise it doesn't, in the end, live up to. See it for Swinton's embodiment of unadulterated maternal will.
  24. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    67
    Ultimately successful at what it sets out to do, even if it's not as much fun along the way as the original.
  25. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    50
    The same story was told vastly better in the 1949 melodrama "The Reckless Moment."
  26. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    50
    Swinton lends Margaret an air of grace under pressure, and fleshing out feelings of domestic dissatisfaction -- a key element that otherwise remains buried in the subtext.
  27. Slate
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    50
    Swinton is good enough to take your mind off the not-too-compelling ambiguities.
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User Reviews

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User Score
6.7 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 29 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 20
  3. Negative: 3 out of 20
  1. M.Carey
    9
    I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire film. It offered not a moment's rest. By the end of the movie, I was breathless. This was one hell of a rollercoaster ride. Tilda Swinton's compelling performance as a young mother who would go to any length to protect her family deserves all the critical acclaim she's been receiving, and her malevolent blackmailer, Goron Visnjic, who is transformed into a compassionate and selfless human being -- bad boys always fall for pretty damsels in distress, don't they? -- is both sexy and charismatic. Everyone I know who has seen this film loved it, which is why I went to see it. I'm glad I did. Film Noir is back, baby -- this time in color -- and it's as dark, consuming, and menacing as ever.… Full Review »
  2. lasttimeisaw
    8
    The enchanting opening score and a dominant blue hue eases its way of a concealed familial drama with a murder case, a blackmail and an in-the-closet gay son. Out of expectation, a lesser impact on the gay culture, the film endeavors a strenuous effort to accent on a desperate mother’s instinct of shielding her son, and magnificently the plot concocts a cordial twist to furnish the film with compassion and great gratification. Tilda Swinton is the ace here (vaguely has sustained her indie-queen ethereality into a more mainstream scope since then), magnifying every impression into an intact personification of a role model mother of three children, who struggles to cover a murder case which she thinks has executed by her elder gay son (which is barely the truth as audience has witnessed the entire occurrence), after that developing a mutual affinity with a young gay blackmailer, things start to become more engrossing. Goran Visnjic is equally empathetic and even a tad overshadowing Ms. Swinton during the final confrontation (a poignant moment arrives when their lips are so close to each other near the end of the film). It never goes awry with the things-getting-worse-until-the-very-end mode, at first one might sense a pro-WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (2011) ominous trauma was awaiting us, congenially enough it is not about the embittering mother-son's love/hate perplexity. This indie gem from director duo Scott McGehee & David Siegel (whose later feature BEE SEASON 2005 is a rueful misfire, a 5/10 in my rating, while their latest WHAT MAISIE KNEW starring my diva Julianne Moore is on the shelf this year) needs more credit for its adroit exposition, splendidly heart-rending impetus and the celeste tableau.… Full Review »
  3. nutterjr
    7
    A relatively unknown film turns out to be a rather pleasant surprise. A thriller with more than one twists. Tilda Swinton is once again a delight to watch.… Full Review »
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