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Poster for Polytechnique

Polytechnique

Ut tensio sic vis

2009 · 1h 17m · Not Rated Crime, Drama, Thriller
Directed by Denis Villeneuve

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Overview

A dramatization of the Montreal Massacre of 1989 where several female engineering students were murdered by an unstable misogynist.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
88%
Tomatometer
Fresh

Nicely anticipates Villeneuve's 2010 masterpiece, Incendies, another story of forgiveness in a cruel, cold world.

David Fear, Time Out New York
Fresh

The virtue - and also the limitation - of this movie is that it confronts senselessness and insists on remaining calm and sane.

A.O. Scott, New York Times
Fresh

Polytechnique smartly exposes the spectrum of misogyny without overplaying the connection between the two incidents. Which makes the concluding flash-forward scene all the more disappointing.

Melissa Anderson, Village Voice
Fresh

The tragic art of Polytechnique isn't what it shows or reveals but rather the contemplation it inspires. There are moments in life when nothing makes sense and sadness descends; this is one of them.

Peter Howell, Toronto Star
Rotten

Lensed in black-and-white, the 77-minute film is plenty arty and only arguably constructive in its tasteful fictionalization of a violent tragedy.

Rob Nelson, Variety

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