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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Deep End, The
Fox Searchlight Pictures


6.7

based on 27 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 27 votes
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FILM:

Bee Season

MPAA RATING: R for some violence and language, and for a strong sex scene

Starring Tilda Swinton, Goran Visnjic, Jonathan Tucker, Peter Donat, Josh Lucas, and Raymond J. Barry

A story of a mother's relationship with her son as she struggles desperately to cope with a crisis that threatens to envelop her entire world. In the classical tradition of the American film melodrama, The Deep End explores the depths of familial love, the boundaries of communication, and the quiet lonely beauty of self-sacrifice. (i5 Films)

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Elisabeth Sanxay Holding (story The Blank Wall) Scott McGehee David Siegel
DIRECTED BY:	Scott McGehee David Siegel
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: April 16, 2002 Video: April 16, 2002 Theatrical: August 8, 2001
RUNNING TIME:	99 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

Swinton picked up a Golden Globe for her lead performance. Also picked up a Best Cinematography Award (Drama), 2001 Sundance Film Festival.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Washington Post Desson Thomson

An extraordinarily riveting drama.

100

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

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.

New Times (L.A.) Andy Klein

An exciting, sharply realized melodramatic film noir, based on Elizabeth Sanxay Holding's novel "The Blank Wall."

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

A thriller with a quietly sensational performance by Tilda Swinton.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

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.

Time Richard Schickel

Elegantly made, romantically doomy, curiously affecting movie.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

The real story lies beneath the surface of this superbly acted, strangely moving film.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

It's intense and involving, and it doesn't let us go.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

A perfect example of a small, well-made, and (in its central role) rivetingly acted film.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Remains rooted in the real world, which makes its story all the more satisfying -- and chilling.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

The Deep End doesn't have a knotty message, but it's a much more meaningful picture than "Suture."

Variety Todd McCarthy

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.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

A fetchingly improbable match of material and directors.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

Goran Visnjic is such a sensitive, non-menacing gentleman that any woman would want him as her own personal blackmailer.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Springs surprises that entertain and provoke.

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

Swinton is heartbreaking. She's not just craft; she's high art.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Swinton single-handedly carries The Deep End past its nagging ambiguities.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Delicious, intelligent thriller.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

An intelligent, extremely well-acted thriller about a mother's endless love for her son.

San Francisco Chronicle Wesley Morris

The resulting film is nobly ridiculous and ridiculously noble, doing everything in its power to subvert the dross it's fooling around with.

Village Voice Dennis Lim

Swinton provides her own brand of incandescence, doubling as the film's aching heart and its center of gravity.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Watchable enough on its own terms.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Ultimately successful at what it sets out to do, even if it's not as much fun along the way as the original.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Displays a promise it doesn't, in the end, live up to. See it for Swinton's embodiment of unadulterated maternal will.

Slate David Edelstein

Swinton is good enough to take your mind off the not-too-compelling ambiguities.

TV Guide Ken Fox

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.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The same story was told vastly better in the 1949 melodrama "The Reckless Moment."

The average user rating for this movie is 6.7 (out of 10) based on 27 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

John B. gave it an8:
Should have had more of a gay subplot. Too stereotypical homophobic.

Gregory L. gave it a 10:
No film in memory has so deftly and deeply examined a mother-son relationship. Even better, Tilda Swinton and Goran Visnjic show the possibilities, and the costs, of moral dialogue. A great movie.

Ben S. gave it a 7:
I enjoyed Swinton very much, and Visnijic was darkly appealing. The true bad guy in the film wasn't really that menacing, though, and the story gets caught in ambiguities that tend to cause one to wonder where the story is really going. A good film for taking it easy on a Saturday night, all in all, thought you might want a cup of java at your side for the slow parts, which there are a lot of.

Alan M. gave it a 10:
Brilliant film for intelligent adults.

Don D. gave it a 9:
Tilda Swinton give a speech about trying harder which should be memorized by everyone. An excellent thriller with a heart of platinum.

Ryan M. gave it a 4:
It's interesting for a while, but then it drifts off to the point that, well, you just don't care anymore.

P. L. gave it a 1:
Over-rated. Over-dramatic. CRAP-OLA.

Deep End, The Fox Searchlight Pictures

Deep End, The
Fox Searchlight Pictures