40
The New York Times by A.O. Scott
A thriller wrapped in heavy-duty gauze to muffle the chills.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
40
Aiming to elicit a last-minute shiver from the audience, Gaghan is likely to get instead a mood-destroying giggle.
40
Hardly a nuanced portrait of a young woman's breakdown, the film nevertheless works up a few scares, particularly a tense call-number hunt in the library stacks.
40
The story's rhythm is so bogged down in unnecessary characterization that the film can hardly breathe.
30
Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas
A trite psychological thriller -- all buildup and no payoff, a mystery that essentially offers only two alternative solutions, which diminishes the element of surprise and strings the viewer along way past caring which possibility proves to be true.
33
Portland Oregonian by Kim Morgan
Has a few pleasing stylistic flourishes and a potentially Hitchcockian plot, but the writing and rhythm are so off that when the final "shocker" arrives, we have seen it coming or have abandoned caring.
12
New York Post by Megan Lehmann
A confusing mishmash.
38
Holmes, of Dawson's Creek, will be up the creek if she can't avoid movies like this. And so will you if you see it.
40
Gaghan shows promise as a director, but Abandon leaves a lot of room for improvement.
63
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
A moody, effective thriller for about 80 percent of the way, and then our hands close on air. If you walk out before the ending, you'll think it's better than it is.