75
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
This doesn't mean Maelström is for everyone. It's a strange and quirky yarn, moving between deceptively calm scenes and episodes as tempestuous as its title.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
70
A film whose charms are odd and indefinable by design.
80
Washington Post by Desson Thomson
Sensual, funny and, in the end, very touching.
80
Dark, wickedly funny tale.
80
New Times (L.A.) by Gregory Weinkauf
The story sustains a strong, hypnotic appeal well deserving of its many awards.
75
Despite its stylistic flaws, the acting and the magic of the story make Maelstrom a different kind of film.
88
Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington
Another of those excellent foreign films that sometimes slip though cracks, considered too strange or eccentric for domestic tastes. Strange it is, but delightfully so
75
San Francisco Chronicle by Mick LaSalle
Compelling parable from Canada that's open to a number of interpretations.
50
For a movie about identity to have no identity of its own leaves the story doubly adrift, lost amid moody dark-blue imagery, a vacuous lead character, and obscure symbolism, such as the bloody talking fishes.
60
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
Probably the first romantic drama ever narrated by a smelly dead fish.