Birth (2004) Critic Reviews

An effective thriller precisely because it is true to the way sophisticated people might behave in this situation. Its characters are not movie creatures, gullible, emotional and quickly moved to tears. They're realists, rich, a little jaded.Read the full review

Without Ms. Kidman's brilliantly nuanced performance, Birth might feel arch, chilly and a little sadistic, but she gives herself so completely to the role that the film becomes both spellbinding and heartbreaking, a delicate chamber piece with the large, troubled heart of an opera. Read the full review

While it veers heavily toward pretentiousness, this striking metaphysical mystery is intensely compelling, conjuring a mood between European high-arthouse and the unsettling psychological horror of "Rosemary's Baby." Read the full review

What the intelligently spooky Birth does best is disturb us.Read the full review

Birth presents an intriguing premise about death and the possibility of rebirth in an elegant, melancholy and deliberate fashion.Read the full review

The best of what's onscreen is a mesmerizing mind-teaser. Read the full review

Begins like a penetrating exploration of love, grief and suffering and ends looking like a highbrow version of "Bride of Chucky."Read the full review

When Kidman slithers into a bathtub with her young ''husband,'' the scene, in its soft-pedaled way, is the definition of exploitation: It appears to have been cooked up for no other purpose than to conjure creepy child-porn overtones. Read the full review

The ick-factor deepens as the story progresses, but the mystery never does. Read the full review