Poster art for "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead."

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Must Go!
Avg. Critic Score: 84 out of 100 Universal acclaim Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
17 not for kids
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    Washington Post | Ann Hornaday

    In addition to being a study in great acting, this is a study in great directing. Read full review

  • 100
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    Its virtues are velocity, energy, innovative storytelling - and something that seems even more the province of young directors: a certain heartlessness and ironic distance in the tone. Read full review

  • 100
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    Mesmerizing. Read full review

  • 100
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    A superb crime melodrama. Read full review

  • 90
    The Hollywood Reporter | Frank Scheck

    Pungently atmospheric, brilliantly textured and featuring superb performances from every performer in parts big and small. Read full review

  • 90
    Los Angeles Times | Carina Chocano

    This is no nostalgia trip taken by an 83-year-old director. It's a fierce, hot slap of a movie, a shameless melodrama with bite. Read full review

  • 90
    Variety | Lisa Nesselson

    The wrenching tale has something for anyone who likes their melodrama spiked with palpable tension and genuine suspense. Read full review

  • 88
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    A dynamite film that ranks with the year's best. Read full review

  • 88
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    One bad idea can unravel and ruin lives in unimaginably horrific ways.That's the concept underlying the riveting Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, a sharply acted and highly entertaining morality play. Read full review

  • 80
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    Curiously exhilarating. Some of this comes from the simple thrill of witnessing something, or rather everything, done well. Read full review

View more reviews for Before the Devil Knows You're Dead on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says not for kids Mature heist film full of violence, explicit sex.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this intense, mature heist film about two adult brothers who conspire to rob their parents -- no one is supposed to get hurt, but things go very awry -- definitely isn't for kids. It's full of loud, bloody, harrowing violence (including a robber exchanging gunfire with an elderly woman) and some pretty explicit sex scenes (thrusting, panting, naked bottoms, visible breasts/nipples). Several scenes show drinking and explicit drug use (cocaine, marijuana, heroin), and there's adultery, cigarette smoking, and plenty of strong language ("f--k," "s--t," and more).
  • Families can talk about the characters' bad/strained family relationships. Why do the brothers resent their father? How do they act out with each other? What role does Gina fulfill for both of the brothers? Do you think relationships like these are realistic? Is it more "entertaining" to see a movie about dysfunctional characters or functional ones? Why?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Characters include thieves, addicts, bullies, and cheaters. Both brothers are insecure, competitive, and violent; their father is distant and cruel; wives are vindictive and resentful. A character's presumed homosexuality is equated with deviance.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: Brutal violence during the central robbery, when a masked thief and the elderly jewelry store owner face off, shooting each other repeatedly (lots of blood, crawling on the ground). Justin, an upscale drug dealer, regularly answers the door with his gun in hand. After she's shot, an old woman appears in a hospital room with tubes and monitors; ultimately, a decision must be made about keeping her on life support. A widower crashes his car into a police cruiser in despair. Father slaps son. Lots of shooting and fighting near the end (panicky gunfire, yelling, blood on walls and bodies).
  • sex false5 Sex: Repeated sex scenes showing naked breasts, buttocks, and sexual activity. First scene takes place in a mirrored hotel room and shows explicit sex from various angles. Other scenes show an adulterous couple (a man with his brother's wife) and reveal her breasts and his bottom. A couple of scenes show tongue-kissing. Andy undresses (not explicit).
  • language false5 Language: Language includes frequent uses of "f--k" and "s--t" (a couple with "bull"), and far fewer instances of "ass" (one with "hole"), "hell," "goddamn," and derisive slang ("faggoty" and "prick").
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Brief visual or verbal references to Dell laptop, Tiffany's jewelry.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false5 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Several scenes take place in bars, where characters drink beer and liquor. Frequent cigarette smoking. Some marijuana smoking and cocaine snorting. In a business/potentially kinky sex arrangement, Andy pays a young man to inject him with heroin a couple of times (needles, powder, and spoon visible). Hank appears drunk.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Dave White

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