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The Whistlers

Play trailer 1:53 Poster for The Whistlers 2020 1h 38m Comedy Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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83% Tomatometer 112 Reviews 52% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
A Romanian police officer, determined to free from prison a crooked businessman who knows where a mobster's money is hidden, must learn the difficult ancestral language used on the island of Gomera.
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The Whistlers

The Whistlers

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Critics Consensus

The Whistlers finds writer-director Corneliu Porumboiu working in a more crowd-pleasing vein than previous efforts, with thoroughly entertaining results.

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Critics Reviews

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Nick Schager Esquire Magazine 01/27/2021
The director orchestrates his action with slippery subtlety and droll humor, and he continually surprises on his way to an expressively non-verbal finale of light and music. Go to Full Review
Mark Kermode Kermode & Mayo's Film Review 05/11/2020
It has such a playful attitude toward genre...absurd but quite genuine. Go to Full Review
Simran Hans Observer (UK) 05/10/2020
4/5
Romanian film-maker Corneliu Porumboiu dispenses with the miserabilism associated with his country's cinema in this tart romp about a tangle of double crossings. Go to Full Review
Chris Mello In Review Online 06/05/2021
Corneliu Porumboiu's The Whistlers is a tight, satisfying crime yarn - even if its small quirks and arthouse sheen sometimes get in the way of the good time its offering. Go to Full Review
Nick Levine NME (New Musical Express) 05/11/2021
4/5
Ultimately Porumboiu's film is a complex but concise succession of double bluffs, dubious deals and difficult-to-predict characters... Go to Full Review
Kiko Vega Espinof 03/25/2021
3/5
A bizarre thriller full of brilliant ideas, absurd moments and well-timed outbursts of violence. [Full Review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Steven 03/02/2020 This film is entertaining but difficult to follow ask the characters See more Jim P 08/02/2024 Worth a watch, just for the playfulness! And that crazy whistling language 😂 See more Alec B 01/09/2024 The ending doesn't really work but it is impressive that the movie takes such a wild concept and makes it convincing for the most part. The recurring jokes and references to the ubiquity of American cultural are a nice touch. See more andrei d 12/27/2022 Gimmicky si prea grijuliu See more 03/12/2022 Critics seem to love this. The trailer made it look like an intriguing comedy-thriller. It is not. Don’t be swayed by all the raves about Romanian New Wave and deliberately deadpan delivery, pulp fiction etc. It has an interesting premise, but there is zero connection between the viewer and any of the characters, not any credible connection between the characters themselves. One character goes to an island to learn a whole new whistling language, only to use it for about two sentences in the whole film? And after a certain number of double-crossings, it begins to not matter who’s side anyone is on. See more 05/04/2021 Nah. Not in the least. I don’t understand how any of these plot points connect, who the characters are, what they want, what the timeline is. None of this film makes sense. Nothing is at stake. Everyone knows everything. I’m so surprised that it has such good reviews. I think that people were amazed that an “avant-garde” filmmaker could make something so “traditional.” See more Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis A Romanian police officer, determined to free from prison a crooked businessman who knows where a mobster's money is hidden, must learn the difficult ancestral language used on the island of Gomera.
Director
Corneliu Porumboiu
Producer
Marcela Ursu, Patricia Poienaru, Sylvie Pialat, Benoît Quainon, Janine Jackowski, Jonas Dornbach, Maren Ade
Screenwriter
Corneliu Porumboiu
Distributor
Magnolia Pictures
Production Co
Filmgate Films, arte France Cinéma, 42 Km Film, WDR, Studioul de Creatie Cinematografica, Film i Väst, Komplizen Film, Les Films du Worso
Genre
Comedy, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
Romanian
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 28, 2020, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 1, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA)
$55.1K
Runtime
1h 38m
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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