Turist 2014

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Though far too long for its wisp of a plot, this stylish film has a nerve-cinching grip that makes it more alarming than most horror flicks, let alone most movies about a couple having a tiff. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: The cinematography is thrilling, the actors are marvelous and director Mr. Ostlund shifts masterfully between violent confrontational outbursts of anger and moments of quiet, introspective feelings without words. Read more

John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: The resolution to a such an argument is impossible, the speculation impossible to resist. Audiences will feel the same about Mr. Ostlund's movie, and the ticklish points it pursues. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Ultimately, "Force Majeure" becomes a thoughtful examination, through Tomas and Ebba, of the person who lives inside each of us, emerging only in the most unguarded moments - and not always a person we want to acknowledge. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: Swedish director Ruben Ostlund's damning, frequently hilarious study of imploding male ego. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: For all the family drama, the film is pretty funny. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: For a comedy about emotional pain, this is neither discomforting nor terribly funny, and the satire of bourgeois complacency doesn't cut very deep. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: "Force Majeure" is both funny and sad, often in the same glance-averted instant. See it with someone you'd trust to stick around in an avalanche. It's one of the highlights of 2014. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Force Majeure is ultimately about something not often explored in film: the consequences of male weakness in a world in which men are expected to be strong at all times. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: This is icy-dry comedy, perfectly calibrated to the movie's snowy environs. Read more

Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com: Slow and, especially in the beginning, sometimes even prosaic, Force Majeure uses very ordinary moments as building blocks for something tense and unnerving. Read more

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: It's the rare kind of moviegoing experience that will haunt you long after you leave the theater and lead to some very awkward conversations with your spouse. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: As adroitly written and directed by Sweden's Ruben Ostlund, "Force Majeure" is a precise film about an out-of-control situation. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: Little but the children's fear of their parents' separation has any dramatic weight. Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: Ostlund is a gifted creator of malignant ambience, which he masterfully uses to keep his audience wound tight and unsure whether the payoff in catastrophe will be physical, emotional or both. Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR: But while you'd think audiences would barely even register a cad any more, two new movies - 'Listen Up Philip' and 'Force Majeure' - resurrect the breed with leading men who are almost impossible to empathize with, but compelling nonetheless. Read more

Jordan Hoffman, New York Daily News: It's a sly tease, superbly written and performed. There's even odd humor. It's all set against gorgeously shot natural vistas. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: This brilliant, viciously amusing takedown of bourgeois complacency, gender stereotypes and assumptions and the illusion of security rubs your face in human frailty as relentlessly as any Michael Haneke movie. Read more

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: Ostlund has an exquisite eye for the intimate, nonverbal communication between couples through their posture, gestures, their eyes. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Filmmaker Ruben Ostlund shifts gears from humor to psychological thriller, redefining courage and family in the process. Force Majeure is a jolt. You won't know what hit you Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: "Force Majeure" is a prickly moral comedy for grown-ups, full of sharply observed moments, spectacular scenery and masterfully manipulated atmosphere. Read more

David Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle: Ostlund has a keen eye for human behavior that exacerbates marital discord and dysfunction. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: Intellectually and visually enthralling and often savagely funny, but it also demands a significant investment of both patience and stamina on the viewer's part. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The film is beautifully made, with great visuals of the hotel's fine, loneliness-inflicting interiors, and mountain-high slopes where families don't talk to each other very much. Read more

Nathalie Atkinson, Globe and Mail: It is often deliciously, horrifically awkward and downright uncomfortable. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: The emotional aftermath and battle of gender expectations threatens to be more devastating than any pounding of powder. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Cinematographer Fredrik Wenzel and editor Jacob Secher Schulsinger play out long takes, allowing us to take in fleeting bits of information while also generating nervous laughter. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: This is slender material to build a whole film around, but Ostlund turns it into something deep, for viewers with patience. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Meticulous and deliberately paced, Force Majeure unexpectedly hits the viewer like an emotional avalanche. Read more

Calum Marsh, Village Voice: Force Majeure represents what is perhaps Ostlund's most sophisticated thought experiment yet, at once provocative and wise. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: It is a film that makes your murmur in amazement as you watch and then brood on the dangerous corners in all our lives. It's a quiet avalanche. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: "Force Majeure" leaves the audience squirming - in all the very best ways. Read more