75
With a conclusion that arrives as an open-ended gut punch, you're not just left lingering with unanswered questions, but the sensation that James Marsh has delivered something truly special.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
75
Slant Magazine by Andrew Schenker
James Marsh carries forward the mood and menace of the opening into the balance of the work, perfectly matching his aesthetic strategies to the story's shifting moral terrain.
80
As beige as an old PC, but beneath the surface the blood pumps bright scarlet. An intelligent and emotionally charged spy drama.
40
There’s slow-burning, and then there’s simply slow; the difference between the two has never been so apparent.
90
The Hollywood Reporter by David Rooney
The story in itself is first-rate. However, it’s the very measured handling that makes it distinctive.
80
Shadow Dancer is admittedly slow to gather force and momentum over its 101-minute running time, though by the third act, the deliberately paced drama has exerted a hypnotic grip.
80
An expertly calibrated drama confirming Marsh’s status as one of Britain’s most formidable filmmakers.
60
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
Marsh's movie is calm, level, downbeat. The tension is subtle – perhaps subtler than it really should be.
50
Not everything from Ireland travels as well as the whiskey. Like mud-thick porridge, Shadow Dancer, another dreary, confusing conspiracy thriller about the Irish “troubles,” is one of them.