Fresh
The Calling breathes new life into a moribund genre by touching oft-ignored themes and offering a bit of introspection to go along with the obligatory slashed throats and biblical portents.
Pete Vonder Haar, Village Voice
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The Calling
Overview
Detective Hazel Micallef hasn't had much to worry about in the sleepy town of Port Dundas until a string of gruesome murders in the surrounding countryside brings her face to face with a serial killer driven by a higher calling.
Director and cast
- Jason Stone Director
- Susan Sarandon as Hazel Micallef
- Gil Bellows as Detective Ray Green
- Ellen Burstyn as Emily Micallef
- Topher Grace as Ben Wingate
- Donald Sutherland as Father Price
- Christopher Heyerdahl as Simon
- Ella Ballentine as Rose Batten
- Kristin Booth as Grace Batten
- Katy Breier as Melanie Cartright
- Amanda Brugel as Dale Varney
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
55%
Tomatometer
Rotten
What not even Sutherland can do, and which eventually makes you want to lie down on the floor just like Sarandon, is make The Calling convincing or compelling.
Geoff Pevere, Globe and Mail
Rotten
Basically this is the story of some major talents having to make do, once again, with a minor film. And that's a crime too, if not quite a sin.
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
Rotten
Here's a mystery: what the heck is Susan Sarandon doing north of the border in a low-budget Canadian thriller called The Calling?
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star
Rotten
"The Calling" aims to unsettle, but when a movie primarily leaves you wanting to learn more about the jurisdictional conflicts of Canadian law, it can't properly be called a thriller.
Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times
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