Marco returns to Paris after his brother-in-law's suicide, where he targets the man his sister believes caused the tragedy - though he is ill-prepared for her secrets as they quickly muddy the waters.
There's nothing wrong with dealing out a dense, noir-like plot in tiny scraps - unless, like "Bastards," the film remains flaccid and tensionless.
– Farran Smith Nehme,
New York Post,
28 Oct 2013
fresh:
"Bastards" is a thriller truly etched in darkness, pools of black broken mostly by the stricken yet soldiering faces of her main characters, like ships in a sea of stormy nights.
– Robert Abele,
Los Angeles Times,
31 Oct 2013
rotten:
The movie ends where it might have begun, and merely states mysteries that remain unexplored.
– Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
4 Nov 2013
rotten:
This is a film so anxious to be taken seriously that it has evaded seriousness itself.
– David Thomson,
The New Republic,
25 Nov 2013
fresh:
An imperfect film but a perfectly mesmerizing one.