Jar City

Play trailer

Jar City

2008

1h 33m

Crime

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

94%

Tomatometer

36 Reviews

73%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

A worn-out cop investigates a murder that is strangely similar to one 30 years earlier.

Critics Consensus

A sublimely directed thriller, Jar City combines murder mystery, family drama and ample bits of Icelandic culture into a fascinating cinematic experience.

Read Critics Reviews

Derek Malcolm

London Evening Standard

09/12/2008

3/5

Kormákur, who made the highly original 101 Reykjavik, is clearly saying something pessimistic about his homeland and, as a film-maker, has the means to do so to some effect.

Go to Full Review

Larushka Ivan-Zadeh

Metro Newspaper (UK)

09/12/2008

A disturbing, bleak, multilayered mystery that will not just worm under your flesh but also wriggle inside your nightmares.

Go to Full Review

Anthony Quinn

Independent (UK)

09/12/2008

4/5

The burden of this Icelandic procedural thriller will put a chill in your bones, if the lugubrious, wind-whipped coastal setting hasn't done already.

Go to Full Review

Cory Woodroof

615 Film

10/21/2022

This is like Iceland’s Gone Baby Gone. A, forgive the pun, chilling procedural about generational sin. It’ll make you want to lock your door, get under a nice blanket with a cup of cocoa and shut the world out.

Go to Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

09/30/2015

B

A well-crafted police procedural written and directed by the Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur.

Go to Full Review

Rich Cline

Shadows on the Wall

09/12/2008

4/5

Unnerving and emotional, this police thriller has an unnerving breadth and depth, as a murder case opens a decades-old inquiry that brings all kinds of dark creepiness with it. It's like an Icelandic twist on Seven.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

I M

06/09/2024

Absorbing, very well made

See more

Laurie S

@Karlwinters 06/03/2024

It tries very hard to be better than it actually is but falls short.

See more

Emma C

10/01/2023

Boring, not the thriller I expected.

See more

@AndyB21 04/23/2022

Dour and gritty Icelandic police procedural thriller. I would say it has it's moments but in truth there are no real highlights, it just grinds on to an admittedly intriguing conclusion unfortunately leaving little real impact along the way.

See more

10/14/2019

This is the almost best mystery film for me.

See more

09/15/2015

One of those hidden gems that will be difficult to forget.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Baltasar Kormákur

Director

Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson

Erlendur

Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir

Eva Lind

Björn Hlynur Haraldsson

Sigurður Óli

Ólafía Hrönn Jónsdóttir

Elínborg

Atli Rafn Sigurðsson

Örn

The Guilty

98%

87%

The Guilty

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Guilty

Anamorph

27%

24%

Anamorph

Watchlist

Noise

80%

71%

Noise

Watchlist

The Alphabet Killer

13%

23%

The Alphabet Killer

Watchlist

Small Town Murder Songs

79%

47%

Small Town Murder Songs

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

UK Critics Consensus: Pineapple Express is smoking hot; If in Eden Lake, DON’T Hug a Hoodie

IFC Heads For Jar City

View more photos

Synopsis

A worn-out cop investigates a murder that is strangely similar to one 30 years earlier.

Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Screenwriter: Arnaldur Indriðason
Distributor: IFC Films
Production Co: Degeto Film, Blueeyes Productions, Nordisk Film
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Icelandic
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 29, 2008, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 27, 2016
Runtime: 1h 33m