The Guardian by Catherine Shoard
There's the frustrating sense of ideas bubbling too low beneath the surface, of mordant jokes serving as an end rather than a means.
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark · 2013
1h 53m
Director Alex van Warmerdam
Starring Jan Bijvoet, Hadewych Minis, Jeroen Perceval, Alex van Warmerdam
Genre Drama, Thriller
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Borgman is an enigmatic vagrant at the center of this dark, malevolent fable about evil in unexpected places. When he arrives in the sealed-off streets of modern suburbia, his presence quickly destroys the facade of one arrogant, upper class family. A chilling, wicked film that never ceases to gleefully twist and turn.
The Guardian by Catherine Shoard
There's the frustrating sense of ideas bubbling too low beneath the surface, of mordant jokes serving as an end rather than a means.
Slant Magazine by Clayton Dillard
An art-house con destined to make viewers who've ever used the term "mindfuck" as praise rack their brains trying to come up with alternate readings for a film that invites many but convincingly offers none.
Time Out London by Dave Calhoun
Beyond the shocks and games, there's not a great deal to take away in the form of meaty ideas or lingering themes, and its catchy premise doesn't really deliver in the end.
The Hollywood Reporter by David Rooney
A quirky study of the unrelenting grip of evil, the film is beautifully made, though stronger in its intriguing setup than its muddy resolution.
With its palatial setting, Borgman shows how money can buy luxury, but it can't salvage the corruption that comes from within.
A sly, insidious and intermittently hilarious domestic thriller.
With pitch-perfect performances across the board, and boasting crisp photography and editing, the film never ceases to twist, turn and surprise, taking wicked joy in constantly switching us back on ourselves and our expectations of the characters.
Borgman‘s crafty, trickster-ish screenplay, always two steps ahead of you, keeps you rooting for clues, enough to put your ethics on temporary hold.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service by Roger Moore
Borgman is a chilling, cryptic film that commands your attention even as its writer-director devotes much of his attention to keeping you from figuring it out.
Village Voice by Stephanie Zacharek
Van Warmerdam keeps such a calm, firm hold on the material that he practically hypnotizes you into following along to the end. The craftsmanship is precise; the result is enigmatic.
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