Synopsis
A political activist is convinced that her guest is a man who once tortured her for the government.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Sigourney WeaverPaulina Escobar
- Ben KingsleyDr. Roberto Miranda
- Stuart WilsonGerardo Escobar
- Krystia MovaDr. Miranda's Wife
- Jonathan VegaDr. Miranda's Son
- Rodolphe VegaDr. Miranda's Son
- Gilberto CortésString Quartet Player
- Jorge CruzString Quartet Player
- Carlos MorenoString Quartet Player
- Eduardo ValenzuelaString Quartet Player
Recommendations
- 91
Entertainment Weekly
Death and the Maiden doesn't always escape its contraption origins, but it ends with one of the most honest-and poetic- reckonings of human evil in modern movies. It's Polanski braying at his own bitter moon. - 89
Austin Chronicle
Death and the Maiden is a streamlined razor-ride of a movie: taut, riveting, and a psychological horror show that will leave nail-marks in your palms for days afterwards. - 80
Empire
Even by their high standards, the performances of Weaver and Kingsley here are impressive, and Polanski ratchetts up the tension nicely. A chilling and thought-provoking piece. - 75
Chicago Sun-Times
Death and the Maiden is all about acting. In other hands, even given the same director, this might have been a dreary slog. - 75
Rolling Stone
Polanski, working from a fluid script by Dorfman and Rafael Yglesias ("Fearless"), gives the story its due. He creates an atmosphere of claustrophobic tension to rival his "Knife in the Water" and "Repulsion". - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
Polanski directs the film without a wasting a moment. The occasional humor does nothing to relieve tension but, as in a Hitchcock picture, has a way of increasing it. - 70
Chicago Reader
Even though he's psychologically expanded his source, the material is a bit too schematic to work as much more than a scaled-down thriller. - 70
Salon
It's an exceptionally intelligent and controlled piece of direction, and for once Polanski didn't hide his emotions in a death's-head grin. The movie is raw and passionate and unresolved in a way that's unique among his work.
