Requiem

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Requiem, the new film from German director Hans-Christian Schmid, is absolutely astonishing. See it if you possibly can.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Requiem is drawn from an incident that was also the basis for last year's demon-seed hit, "The Exorcism of Emily Rose."

Variety Eddie Cockrell

Stunningly played story of faith vs. family.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

An exorcism movie for the rest of us, the gripping German drama Requiem contains not a single special effect. It doesn't need one. It has terrific actors fully invested in a casual-seeming, docudramatic brand of storytelling, notably Sandra Hueller.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Bogumil Godfrejow's raw cinematography and Huller's poignant, close-to-the-bone performance transform what might have been a morbid curiosity into an entirely enthralling, quietly terrifying experience.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

In its subtlety, complexity and dexterity, Requiem is a notably original work.

Empire Helen O'Hara

A tragic tale of teen rebellion and misplaced faith, this is a sober and sobering account of a young girl's untimely end, made enthralling by great performances and restrained direction.

The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis

Requiem is a moving study of a tortured young woman more at peace with medieval ritual than with modern medicine.

Village Voice Jim Ridley

Sandra Hüller, a young German stage actress making a harrowing feature debut, invests Michaela's terrified, possibly schizophrenic outbursts with unholy conviction.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

While "Exorcism" focused on a murder-trial battle between the priest and a prosecutor, Schmid's film beautifully details the behavior, events and socio-religious pressures that lead to the decision to perform such an extreme ritual.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Though its heroine's mysterious seizures and blackouts are terrifying in the way they undermine her quest for self-determination, Requiem isn't a horror movie so much as a thwarted coming-of-age story, like "Carrie" without the bloody reckoning.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Anybody who's ever seen a movie about exorcism knows that, in cases like this, the first thing to do is call 1-800-PRIEST, which the family does.

Chicago Reader Martin Rubin

The nonsensationalistic results are also somewhat ho-hum--and oddly less convincing than Friedkin's lurid mess, let alone the elegant satanism sagas of Tourneur and Polanski.