Essential Killing

R

2010

1h 24m

Mystery & Thriller

War

List

77%

53 Reviews

Tomatometer

46%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

A Taliban soldier (Vincent Gallo) struggles to survive after he escapes his captors and flees into the Polish countryside.

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Critics Consensus

Driven by a uniquely stark mood and propulsive direction, Essential Killing excels due to an unrelentingly visceral performance from Vincent Gallo.

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Ben Sachs

Chicago Reader

It's great screen acting, as [Vincent] Gallo expressively uses his body to make it part of the film's overall design.

May 5, 2020

Full Review

Scott Tobias

AV Club

Essential Killing goes so far out of its way to avoid political commentary that the commentary that remains is slim, reduced to a familiar, though occasionally striking, statement on man's animal nature.

Rated: B-

May 5, 2020

Full Review

Tara Brady

Irish Times

The religious-themed inserts are incongruous in a project that so studiously sidesteps political markers and prove an unwanted distraction in the cinema.

May 5, 2020

Full Review

Giuseppe Sedia

Kino Mania

Skolimowski succeeds in directing a minimalistic escape movie that enhances the physical performance of a wonderfully unrecognizable Vincent Gallo as the Taliban runaway [about] the many-sided taboo of Polish politics and the CIA’s covert operations.

Rated: 4.5/5

Aug 10, 2023

Full Review

Paul Whitington

Irish Independent

Once [Jerzy] Skolimowski has established his story's visual momentum, it goes precisely nowhere.

Rated: 3/5

May 5, 2020

Full Review

Allan Hunter

Daily Express (UK)

Tightly controlled by veteran director Jerzy Skolimowski and beautifully shot on location in Israel and Poland, Essential Killing is an exciting if wildly implausible fable.

Rated: 3/5

May 5, 2020

Full Review

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Audience Member

Only 83 minutes!...It seemed like 83 hours.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Jerzy Skolimowski's survival tale benefits from a steady, muted performance by VIncent Gallo.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The story of survival of a man from, what we presume, Afghanistan lost in the middle of the taïga of Siberia. Not a killer by choice, a killer for survival, for the essential. Vincent Gallo is truly a good actor, it is too bad we don't see him enough. Not a must see but a good film.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

As purely a visceral thriller it goes well at first but tapers off a bit ineffectually, and the lack of context switches from being a strength, to joining the budget as a limitation. Instead of building some sort of narrative, you flounder around making wilder and ever weaker guesses, until you give up and wait powerless for the inevitable.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Beautiful scenery and I liked the sound effects/texture especially all the small sounds like snow crunching. Made me think about the war on terror from another perspective for a minute. I liked how we got to see everything from this characters POV and came to empathize for him a bit (though I was never routing for him). Makes you wonder about how you might deal with that. I don't know how I would have made out after the messing up my foot. Loved the lack of dialogue

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A good film that gives you the first part excitements and ends with scenes of silence while the protagonist struggles.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

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Jerzy Skolimowski

Director

Vincent Gallo

Mohammed

Emmanuelle Seigner

Margaret

Zach Cohen

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Synopsis

A Taliban soldier (Vincent Gallo) struggles to survive after he escapes his captors and flees into the Polish countryside.

Director: Jerzy Skolimowski
Producer: Andrew Lowe, Jeremy Thomas
Screenwriter: Jerzy Skolimowski, Ewa Piaskowska
Production Co: Skopia Film, Element Pictures, Cylinder Production
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, War
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 23, 2012
Runtime: 1h 24m

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