Calvaire

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1:15

Calvaire

2004

1h 34m

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

47%

Tomatometer

32 Reviews

51%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

A stranded singer falls victim to a dangerously unhinged innkeeper who is determined to keep him captive.

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Critics Consensus

Calvaire (The Ordeal) has a certain amount of grim potential, but loses effectiveness by too often mistaking disturbing gore for genuine horror.

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Wally Hammond

Time Out

[Du Welz's] art-house experimentation and performance-art approach to ensemble acting sacrifices plausibility in favour of increasingly pretentious surreal black comedy.

Nov 16, 2011

Full Review

Philip French

Guardian

The film is nasty and barely competent.

Jan 20, 2007

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Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

A glossy rehash that's far less interesting and frightening than the classics upon which it's unimaginatively modeled.

Rated: C

Jan 11, 2007

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Arthur Goyaz

Loud and Clear Reviews

the movie stands out as an atmospheric piece with important things to say, but it always feels like an allegory rather than something authentic.

Rated: 3.5/5

Aug 7, 2024

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Ygraine Hackett-Cantabrana

The Geek Show (UK)

Calvaire is a hauntingly grim portrayal of the dangers that a misogynistic society provides for all genders, and with it’s violence, nihilism, and utter lack of hope, it’s a stalwart of the New French Extremity movement.

Jul 9, 2024

Full Review

Joel Harley

Starburst

Adjacent to the early noughties’ French extremist movement (see also: Martyrs, Inside, Haute Tension), Fabrice Du Welz’s backwoods horror film is surprisingly lacking its peers’ excessive gore but remains the most troubling of them all.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 27, 2023

Full Review

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bill f

Brutal, gripping, disturbing and very weird. I absolutely loved it! On second viewing some time later, even more. A superbly crafted film that will leave you dumbfounded. Astonishing piece of cinema.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

10/11/25

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Diana S

Kind of a French take on a '70s backcountry slasher, which while not my favorite kind of horror movie, this is as good as any of them really. It's grotesque and macabre and at times absurd. Ultimately entertaining enough.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

12/17/24

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Jerod S

It's like a french version of "The Hills Have Eyes" - minus the grotesque facial features. The town this singer gets stuck in has a bunch of inbred dudes.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

08/13/24

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colin m

("Calvaire" / "The Ordeal" ) I enjoyed it.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Calvaire (The Ordeal). Unsympathetic, strangely perverse and deeply unsettling. Yet beautifully shot, thematically complex and diabolically humorous. How many films have pulled that off? A film that has stuck with me for 15 years and one that probably took as long to fully appreciate. Genuinely dreadful.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/31/21

Full Review

dave s

The French horror film Calvaire starts off promisingly enough – a broken down van on a remote country road in the middle of the night and a decrepit country inn shrouded in fog and menace. Thanks to some effective lighting and quirky performances, the tension builds steadily as it slowly becomes apparent that something is amiss. Things fall apart just past the halfway point as Calvaire becomes some sort of weird offspring of Misery and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Sadly, there are some unintentional laughs (dig the dancing in the bar, not to mention the pet ‘dog'!!) which is never a good thing in a movie that is supposed to scare the hell out of you.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

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Fabrice Du Welz

Director

Laurent Lucas

Marc Stevens

Jackie Berroyer

Bartel

Philippe Nahon

Robert Orton

Jean-Luc Couchard

Boris

Gigi Coursigny

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Calvaire: Re-Mastered Trailer 1

1:15

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Synopsis

A stranded singer falls victim to a dangerously unhinged innkeeper who is determined to keep him captive.

Director: Fabrice Du Welz
Producer: Michaël Gentile, Vincent Tavier, Eddy Géradon-Luyckx
Screenwriter: Fabrice Du Welz, Romain Protat
Distributor: Palm Pictures
Production Co: Backup Films, Studio Canal
Genre: Horror
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Theaters): May 18, 2004, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Feb 24, 2023
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 3, 2023
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.6K
Runtime: 1h 34m

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