Under the Sand

Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson

Ozon -- has finally hit a home run, and Rampling is his most remarkable RBI.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

It's a great pleasure that -- we get to ponder one of the most involving psychological mysteries in recent memory.

Boston Globe Loren King

Mesmerizing and unforgettable.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

Fascinating, visually gorgeous cinematic study that will frustrate some viewers by its ambiguity.

Variety Derek Elley

An exquisite reflection on personal bereavement.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Requires careful attention at its abrupt finish. Close concentration on the final shots yields a meaning not possible should a viewer's attention wander or turn away a few moments too soon.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Powerfully enigmatic study of the fundamental opacity of human relations.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

It's a role of fierce demands, and Rampling meets them all. In a summer of crass, Rampling is a true class act.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Mr. Ozon gives the movie to Ms. Rampling, whose performance is like a perfectly executed piano etude, finding precise, impossibly subtle shadings of pleasure, confusion and distress.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Charlotte Rampling takes you so far inside the pain of Marie Drillon it leaves you stirred, shaken and a little in awe.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Manages the most delicate of hat tricks: It gives definition to uncertainty.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Ozon has crafted a near-perfect film, a mournful, moving kind of cinema poetry.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A movie of introspection and defiance.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Ozon specializes in dissecting the vulnerability, erotic longing, and garbled intentions with which people regularly rub up against one another.

Village Voice Amy Taubin

Rampling has never been as beautiful, not to mention as emotionally naked, nuanced, and affecting as she is here.

TV Guide Frank Lovece

The film ends with a return to the beach, and one of the most psychologically chilling and expertly photographed shots imaginable.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

Creepily evocative.

New Times (L.A.) Bill Gallo

A beautifully acted, carefully written meditation on one woman's grief, the enigma of imagination, the persistence of desire and -- let's face it -- the power of denial.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Rampling's authority over splintered emotions has the force of revelation.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Unexpectedly subtle cinematic style.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

A fascinating movie that explores grief from an emotionally truthful angle rarely seen in movies.

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

This is Rampling's film, and she's never less than surprising, never less than a revelation.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

It stays in your memory, will not leave you in peace.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

A sensitive and subtle meditation on aging, loss and bereavement.