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Boarding Gate
Magnet Films


6.0

based on 15 reviews
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How did we calculate this?

based on 7 votes
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Internet Movie Database

MPAA RATING: R for violence, sexual content, language and some drug material

Starring Asia Argento, Michael Madsen, Carl Loong Ng, and Kelly Lin

Ex-prostitute Sandra is forced to flee London after a steamy S&M encounter with a debt-ridden ex-lover ends in violence. Fleeing to Hong Kong in search of a fresh start, she becomes involved with an attractive young couple, Lester and Sue, who promise to help her obtain papers and money. But nothing turns out as expected for Sandra, and she finds herself trapped in a sordid game of manipulation. (Magnet Films)

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Olivier Assayas
DIRECTED BY:	Olivier Assayas
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: June 3, 2008 Theatrical: March 21, 2008
RUNNING TIME:	minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	France

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Premiere Glenn Kenny

This is very much a French intellectual cineaste's idea of a B thriller, and hence is as far from innocent in its genre as you can get. Which is not to say that Assayas deals in bad faith.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

Even in Boarding Gate, a modestly scaled, self-consciously tawdry exercise in genre appropriation, Mr. Assayas manages to say more about what it is to be human -- to desire, to fear, to be alone -- than most filmmakers say in a lifetime.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Argento always gives us something to watch, and maybe even something to fear. I've never seen her in a movie where I haven't been at least a little bit scared of her.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

The plot may be murky, but actress Asia Argento is a clear and commanding force throughout.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Boarding Gate's surfaces are often so staggeringly beautiful that its superficiality becomes forgivable, with the pleasant distractions of Assayas' multi-layered frames, Argento's sinewy allure, and snippets of Brian Eno ambience on the soundtrack. Why can't all movies this inane be this accomplished?

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Seriously flawed and not for every taste, the film was shot quickly and on the cheap, and is driven by Argento's slurred, scratchy voice and Bette Davis eyes.

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

The oddball cast, by the way, includes Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, who is infinitely more convincing speaking Cantonese than she is in her (presumably native) English.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Call it a victory of conviction over substance, but when Argento is onscreen, you look at her - not because she's good, but because she's there in a way nobody else is.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

There's basically only one reason to see Olivier Assayas's self-consciously hypermodern, meta-sleazy, English-French-Chinese-language globo-thriller Boarding Gate, and her name is Asia Argento.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

This one is just murk.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

Boarding Gate was evidently made quickly and cheaply, and parts of it are fun. It’s too bad there’s no real viewer equivalent--that you can’t WATCH a film quickly and cheaply.

The New Yorker David Denby

It’s time for this talented man (Assayas) to pull himself together. He may have something serious to say about the brutal impersonality of global capitalism, yet he’s caught somewhere between insight and exploitation.

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

A ridiculous poseur thriller that seems to be made up of the slow moments from Hong Kong action films and Euro-flashy stuff like "Run Lola Run."

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Draggy and incoherent.

Variety Russell Edwards

Thrills and drama are left standing on the tarmac in Boarding Gate a limp, sleazy inanity by renowned French critic cum erratic helmer Olivier Assayas.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.0 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Scott C. gave it an8:
I agree it's not for every taste. But Asia Argento is mesmerizing and bizarre. The whole film is deeply atmospheric, sexy, dangerous, and fairly unhinged. Heady and carrying the whiff of depth, but with cheap kicky thrills. I loved it.

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Boarding Gate Magnet Films

Boarding Gate
Magnet Films