Intacto

Washington Post Richard Harrington

Mesmerizing art-noirish thriller.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

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.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

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.

LA Weekly Mark Olsen

The story is bound together with gaming set pieces that are strange, inventive and mesmerizing.

Variety Jonathan Holland

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).

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

A sharp brainteaser of a film, a compelling mind game you compulsively play along with.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

The latest movie from Spain to use the conventions of the thriller to explore knotty and fascinating philosophical questions.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

Effectively thrilling.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The story of this Spanish thriller is weak in psychological credibility but strong in suspense, novelty, and imagination.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Intriguing, provocative stuff.

Film Threat Tim Merrill

Devilishly clever and boasting a killer finale, Intacto is this year's "Memento" -- only Spanish.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Intriguing and stylish.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

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.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

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.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

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.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

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.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

The movie pits fortune against destiny and has an enigmatic old time splitting the difference.

Chicago Tribune Loren King

Mix of stylish action and meta-musings, provides plenty of confusing, satisfying surprises, though it could have used more tightness and punch.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

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.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Consistently absorbing -- thanks in large part to strong performances from the actors -- but not particularly rewarding.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

It's a shame that, somewhere in his mystagogical handstanding, Fresnadillo forgot the real world.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

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.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Convoluted.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

A convoluted, pointless thriller that wastes the considerable talent of Max von Sydow.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

The film's a swell way of torturing yourself for 108 minutes.