30
Odd beginning permits viewers to leave after five minutes and know what happens. Those remaining are left with the full tome, its 92-minute length hiding an experience as draining as "Heaven's Gate."
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
75
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
Poignant and well acted, though not very memorable.
50
New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman
Both lightweight and heavy-handed, Carl Bessai's arthouse drama can't even be redeemed by Ian McKellen's sensitive turn in the title role.
50
Sensitively played but ultimately undone by its unconventional approach.
70
Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas
At heart a reverie, a meditation on the past and its treacheries.
80
The Hollywood Reporter by Michael Rechtshaffen
It's a beautifully modulated performance in a nicely crafted, quietly unassuming character study by Vancouver-based writer-director Carl Bessai.
60
A routine memory piece about long-buried family secrets that bubble back to the surface to wreak havoc.
60
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
While most films in which the angry past confronts the guilty present degenerate into mawkish reconciliations, Emile errs on the side of restraint.
75
The dreamy drama Emile shows how a talented cast can turn a tentative plot into pleasant viewing.