Bastards

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Bastards

2013

1h 40m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

68%

Tomatometer

56 Reviews

36%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

Marco is called back to Paris when his brother-in-law commits suicide and his niece is hospitalized after a rape.

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Violet Lucca

Little White Lies

Jun 20, 2016

4/5

In a year where art-house releases and blockbusters were seemingly in competition for the longest running time, Claire Denis' Bastards is an exercise in pure economy.

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

Feb 28, 2014

3/5

Bastards is Denis' most eventful, impactful film in quite some time. But one couldn't warmly recommend it.

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Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

Feb 16, 2014

2/5

Claire Denis comes unstuck with this drearily angst-ridden tale of suicide, sexual violence and incestuous strife, which takes inspiration from Faulkner's Sanctuary and Kurosawa's The Bad Sleep Well.

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Vadim Rizov

Filmmaker Magazine

Jan 25, 2023

Denis’ typically impeccable editing strings together individually stunning shots into fast-paced hypnosis, but her fluid command meshes poorly with self-conscious morbidity, culminating in an arguably silly/unnecessarily provocation-minded ending.

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Dustin Chang

Floating World

Feb 24, 2021

Its pulpy premise and fuzzy the ending didn't really bother me. I hear this was Denis' first foray into digital filmmaking, but with Agnes Godard at the DP helm, the images are just as mesmerizing as her previous films.

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C.J. Prince

Way Too Indie

Jun 22, 2019

7.4/10

On mood and atmosphere alone, Bastards is highly impressive and one of Denis' strongest works.

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Christopher G

@RT52231037 Feb 13, 2025

Taught. Quiet. I had no idea how this one would finish. The last two sequences left me thrilled, devastated, and in awe.

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John A

@ExcessMale Oct 4, 2023

The opening sepia-laden sequence is mesmerizing. 30 to 40 minutes in I was almost completely checked out. It isn't a middling film because of Claire Denis' economic approach. 'Bastards' is middling and pretty forgettable because of the shallow and underdeveloped story.

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Jun 19, 2020

Some "Irreversible" moments that are difficult to watch, and Vincent Lindon cast himself well as the uber masculine sailor, but overall it's a slower burn than it needs to...

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Nov 26, 2016

give it a chance great movie

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Nov 5, 2015

Billed as a revenge thriller this French picture doesn't really follow through will the thrills being quite a slow burner. What the film does deliver is a very dark brooding tale in which no character is untarnished but its pacing is its primary flaw.

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Nov 28, 2014

French very own thrilling style.

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Claire Denis

Director

Vincent Lindon

Marco Silvestri

Chiara Mastroianni

Raphaëlle

Julie Bataille

Sandra

Michel Subor

Edouard Laporte

Lola Créton

Justine

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Synopsis

Marco is called back to Paris when his brother-in-law commits suicide and his niece is hospitalized after a rape.

Director: Claire Denis
Producer: Olivier Thery-Lapiney, Laurence Clerc, Vincent Maraval, Brahim Chioua
Screenwriter: Jean-Pol Fargeau, Claire Denis
Production Co: Pandora Produktion, arte France Cinéma, Alcatraz Films, Goodfellas S.L.
Genre: Drama
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 6, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $12.2K
Runtime: 1h 40m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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