Thérèse(Thérèse Desqueyroux)

New York Daily News by

Audrey Tautou trades in Amelie’s wide-eyed sprite look for le sourpuss in this sober yet fascinating take on aristocratic social mores between the wars.

Village Voice by Aaron Hillis

If the banality of life within the Bordeaux gentry is the point, then the ensuing oppressiveness is immaculately depicted through precise performances and camerawork—just don't call it emotionally engaging drama.

The New York Times by Manohla Dargis

Mr. Miller’s stolid approach — with its waxwork figures, postcard beauty, insistent tastefulness and glaze of politesse — feels far too comfortably of this world to mount a critique of it.

Time Out by Michael Atkinson

Though bourgie audiences looking for a sun-warmed romance will be slapped; the movie may look pretty and may plod, but it also leaves a bruise.

The Dissolve by Mike D'Angelo

Mauriac’s portrait of a society obsessed with family honor and the appearance of propriety at all costs comes through strongly, but that can’t entirely compensate for a character study with a hard-working vacuum at its center. Like Keanu Reeves, Tautou requires a perfect fit; when she tries to stretch, she gets stranded.

The A.V. Club by Nick Schager

A second-act forest fire proves a handy metaphor for Tautou’s slowly burning rage at confinement. Yet while it seems thematically apt, it’s also wholly out of place in this static, emotionless saga, which is defined less by zealous feeling than by a dull, decorous air of respectability.

Los Angeles Times by Sheri Linden

Even given the character's extreme introspection and withdrawal, Tautou's performance is too often opaque.

RogerEbert.com by Simon Abrams

Thérèse never goes beyond that level of psychological complexity because after a point, Miller and Carter aren't interested in exploring the murky depths of Thérèse 's feelings.

Slant Magazine by Tomas Hachard

Claude Miller's swan song not only shares its main character's name but also her tempered disposition.