7.5 (8.5 for genre). Stylish with an excellent lead performance (its pared down presentation and plot had echoes of the classic Point Blank).

Though lacking in any great substance (cf, to say, The American) it consistently held one’s attention from the very first shot to the closing credits — something to be said of very [...]

8.5. Beautiful, allusive and moving. As with Malick’s other work, sparing use of dialogue, fragmented scenes, and powerful images combine to a whole that is both complete and skeletal, suggesting, like all great work, much that lies above and beyond the limited canvas. 

6/10. One of those films that I would probably rate more highly if the reviews hadn’t been so positive. This isn’t bad, and it does a lot with its premise — in no small part due to excellent central performances — but there isn’t a huge amount there.

8. A striking, spare film that assembles mystery and emotional involvement from the slightest of narratives.

6.5. Fincher does a great job to weave the variegated strands into a film that is engaging throughout. However, as with his previous Zodiac, one wondered what the point was – a problem made worse here by the lack of a single character who can elicit our sympathy.

5/10. Beautiful but completely empty, without significant emotional or intellectual substance and very little of the crucial ingredient for any thriller: suspense.

The conception was neat, and executed with much visual flair but the key elements of plot and characterisation that would have served to involve the viewer more deeply seemed to have got lost [...]

8/10. Beautiful and moving.

7/10 (9/10 for genre). Very cleverly done, with a real emotional engagement in the protagonists predicament. This lives up to its reputation as being (well) above average.