Cory Woodroof 615 Film Oct 21, 2022

This is like Iceland’s Gone Baby Gone. A, forgive the pun, chilling procedural about generational sin. It’ll make you want to lock your door, get under a nice blanket with a cup of cocoa and shut the world out.

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Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Sep 30, 2015 B

A well-crafted police procedural written and directed by the Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur.

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Rich Cline Shadows on the Wall Sep 12, 2008 4/5

Unnerving and emotional, this police thriller has an unnerving breadth and depth, as a murder case opens a decades-old inquiry that brings all kinds of dark creepiness with it. It's like an Icelandic twist on Seven.

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Derek Malcolm London Evening Standard Sep 12, 2008 3/5

Kormákur, who made the highly original 101 Reykjavik, is clearly saying something pessimistic about his homeland and, as a film-maker, has the means to do so to some effect.

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Larushka Ivan-Zadeh Metro Newspaper (UK) Sep 12, 2008

A disturbing, bleak, multilayered mystery that will not just worm under your flesh but also wriggle inside your nightmares.

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Anthony Quinn Independent (UK) Sep 12, 2008 4/5

The burden of this Icelandic procedural thriller will put a chill in your bones, if the lugubrious, wind-whipped coastal setting hasn't done already.

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Philip Kemp Total Film Sep 12, 2008 4/5

Refusing to spoonfeed its audience, this is a dark, convoluted thriller, tightly scripted and richly atmospheric.

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Elliott Noble Sky Cinema Sep 12, 2008 3/5

Bleak surroundings and grim humour create a suitably sombre mood, but in the wake of juicy police procedurals like Dennis Lehane adaptations Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone, this is disappointingly straightforward stuff.

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Tim Robey Daily Telegraph (UK) Sep 12, 2008 3/5

The disinterring of corpses makes this film almost too ghoulish for its own good, but Iceland's top director Baltasar Kormákur wraps it up in his distinctive frostbitten style.

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Peter Bradshaw Guardian Sep 12, 2008 4/5

It's an intriguing puzzle that held me gripped until the very end.

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Wendy Ide The Times (UK) Sep 12, 2008 4/5

It's a terrific piece of direction from Kormákur. Everything, from the look of the film, to the brilliantly unsettling use of food as a recurring motif, is judged perfectly.

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Trevor Johnston Time Out Sep 12, 2008 4/6

A satisfying, altogether distinctive piece of filmmaking.

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Matthew Turner ViewLondon Sep 11, 2008 4/5

In short, this is a superbly made, thoroughly engaging thriller that exerts a powerful emotional grip and is well worth seeking out. Recommended

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Rosamund Witcher Empire Magazine Sep 9, 2008 4/5

A chilling murder mystery which should do wonders for Iceland's film industry.

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Andrew O'Hehir Salon.com Jul 9, 2008

Tremendously acted and shot with memorable confidence, Jar City deserves a much wider release than it's apparently going to get.

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Joseph Proimakis Movies for the Masses Jun 29, 2008 3.5/5

bazeis (ton skinotheti) se katigoria spanioy talentoy, kai toy syghoreis tin adynamia na brei kaskanter tis prokopis gia merikes apo tis apaititikes skines

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Lisa Kennedy Denver Post Jun 6, 2008 3/4

Terrifically acted, expertly shot and painstakingly paced, Jar City investigates deeper, darker themes. And Erlendur is a reminder that homicide detectives don't save lives so much as exhume the meanings of violence.

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Ed Scheid Boxoffice Magazine Apr 3, 2008 3.5/5

Jar City is an absorbing mystery connecting different generations and set in the desolate landscapes of Iceland.

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Chris Barsanti Filmcritic.com Mar 1, 2008 3.5/5

The well-directed cast competently handles the genre material

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V.A. Musetto New York Post Feb 29, 2008 3/4

The story, based on a best-selling novel, has familiar overtones; but Kormakur overcomes them with stylish direction.

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