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The Club

Play trailer 1:52 Poster for The Club Released Feb 5, 2016 1h 36m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
88% Tomatometer 94 Reviews 81% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Living in exile in La Boca, Chile, four disgraced priests and a nun (Antonia Zegers) receive a visit from a clerical counselor (Marcelo Alonso).
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The Club

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Critics Consensus

The Club finds director Pablo Larraín continuing to pose difficult questions while exploring weighty themes -- and getting the most out of a talented cast.

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Critics Reviews

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Nigel Andrews Financial Times In this zero-sum drama, despair is catching. But so is the fascination of watching a gifted filmmaker dissect the emotions and motivations of the sinned and sinned-against. Rated: 4/5 Dec 28, 2016 Full Review Tara Brady Irish Times Prepare for feel-bad cinema. Larraín skilfully manipulates the viewer to feel sympathy for the priests and revulsion for their victim. Rated: 4/5 Aug 8, 2016 Full Review Alissa Wilkinson Christianity Today We are confronted by their crimes and their false superiority, unable to look away. We must wince. We must pay attention. Mar 30, 2016 Full Review Jaime Grijalba Vague Visages Powerful beyond my reservations. Dec 1, 2023 Full Review Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com Arguably one of Larrain's most seditious narratives, a feat considering his stellar body of work, The Club is a stunning critique of organized religion, and will hopefully maintain the prolific shelf-life it deserves. Rated: 4/5 Oct 8, 2020 Full Review Mikel Zorrilla Espinof It is also a very daring work that does not hesitate to delve into one of the darkest secrets of Christianity. [Full Review in Spanish] Apr 14, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Renaldo D The film is heavy, with a macabre narrative and grotesque scenes. The director did a great job, but it is difficult to watch. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/20/23 Full Review Jessica Larrain proves to me once again that his versatility is a divine gift, this film is a concise and disgusting criticism of society, it caught me. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/19/23 Full Review Rubem N It tells a very sadly common story, with simple acting and powerful deliveries. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/28/23 Full Review Audience Member I never highlight Chilean cinema (my country), sometimes unfairly, but I cannot fail to recommend this film by Pablo Larraín. It has been recognized everywhere (nominated for the Golden Globe). Raw story, beautiful photography and an unbeatable acting choir. This is definitely an excellent example of good Chilean cinema. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member An interesting premise for a film, I did read the blurb before watching so in this case had an idea what the film was about beforehand. It seemed like the director both wanted to express a message, about Christianity and the church, presumably based on observation and also just to make an interesting 'good film', he did both to a reasonable, if not excellent degree. It seems quite strange to call this film enjoyable, it's not really the right word, nor is entertaining but it was interesting to watch and had a storytelling quality to it. Obviously some of the dialogue was strong and uncomfortable but there were also some almost comedic scenes - four lonely priests in a rather ridiculous situation watching the greyhound they have trained together from a hill or having genuine pious conversations about God on the beach whilst smoking cigarettes in their woolly jumpers having committed all the evil they had, although I don't think these elements were intended quite as comedy, even the black kind, there was a certain wryness about them. Quite interesting how all the characters were completely screwed up - the four priests, the 'nun', the spiritual director and the child abuse victim, all psychos really, none of whom seemed to realise there was a problem. All the crime they committed and in their own minds all in the name of God and the church. There were obviously strong messages - about sexuality, Christianity, the church ('old' and 'new') and the horrible abuse and corruption which by now is no secret and the effect that has on the victims. Also, on the church's way of dealing with all this - the murder of three innocent dogs and the serious assault on an innocent man just so those priests could 'repent', quite certain that is an intentional analogy of some of the bigger picture workings of the 'church'. As a film it had some good scenes and was shot interestingly - all very grey and bleak and intimate. The end was a little cliche - suddenly they start praying and are 'cured' and the it cuts to the spiritual director leaving the house with his briefcase, they might as well have him walk into the sunset brushing his hands after another job well done, plus we are told they pray and sing twice a day but only at this point in the film are we shown it so that it may have dramatic effect, a little gimmicky. I think this is a good film but not a timeless classic. Overall pleased to have seen it and good to give these obscure films a go. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Escalofriante, una critica mordaz y realista a los problemas de la iglesia católica, logra trasmitir cada uno de los conceptos que esta busca retratar, las actuaciones están muy conseguidas logrando que el espectador sienta una vergonzosa empatía por los personajes, simplemente maravillosa y una parada obligatoria dentro del cine chileno. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Club

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Cast & Crew

Ema 88% 62% Ema Watchlist TRAILER for Ema Post Mortem 91% 61% Post Mortem Watchlist Cria! 100% 94% Cria! Watchlist Ma ma 25% 46% Ma ma Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Living in exile in La Boca, Chile, four disgraced priests and a nun (Antonia Zegers) receive a visit from a clerical counselor (Marcelo Alonso).
Director
Pablo Larraín
Producer
Juan de Dios Larraín
Screenwriter
Guillermo Calderón, Daniel Villalobos, Pablo Larraín
Distributor
Music Box Films
Production Co
Fabula
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Spanish
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 5, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 23, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$6.5K
Runtime
1h 36m
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