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Poster for Simon Magus

Simon Magus

Misfit. Outcast. Turncoat. Prophet. Hero.

1999 · 1h 41m · N/A Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Directed by Ben Hopkins

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Overview

Simon is an outcast from his Jewish community because he claims that the devil talks to him and he has the ability to put curses on crops. When Dovid asks the 'Squire' to sell him some land so he can build a railway station, a ruthless businessman from the neighbouring gentile community uses Simon to find out who wants to buy the land so he can 'persuade' him otherwise

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
Rotten

The villain sneers, and someone in the film- score department is banging a timpani in slow motion, meaning there's probably tragedy around the corner, but things are too earnest and sleepy to be sure.

Wesley Morris, San Francisco Chronicle
Fresh

An odd but original, at times even poetic, film about a vanished world.

Loren King, Boston Globe
Fresh

Beautifully shot and lyrically told, Simon Magus is a beguiling study in contrasts, good and evil, darkness and light, hope and despair, joy and melancholy.

David Germain, Associated Press
Rotten

The more I think about Simon Magus, the less I'm sure what it's trying to say.

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Fresh

Hopkins shows masterful skill in shaping Simon's reality and unreality in this engrossing, suspenseful morality play.

Robert K. Elder, Chicago Tribune

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