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Grand Central

2013

Rebecca Zlotowski

Tahar Rahim, Léa Seydoux, Olivier Gourmet, Denis Ménochet ...

5.4

310

Drama. Romance Gary, an unskilled young man, lands a job as a decontamination sub-contractor at a nuclear power plant in the lower valley of the Rhone. Inducted into the workforce by supervisor Gilles and veteran Toni, Gary discovers that radiation contamination is not just a risk factor but an everyday hazard. At the same time, he begins an illicit affair with Karole, the fiancée of Toni.

	Author	Review
United States	Boyd van Hoeij The Hollywood Reporter	"A not quite successful fusion of realism and more romantic impulses with two appealing stars"	NEU
United States	Scott Foundas Variety	"A love triangle so intense it’s practically radioactive foregrounds 'Grand Central,' an engrossing, superbly acted working-class melodrama"	POS
United Kingdom	Geoffrey Macnab The Independent	"The plotting may be contrived but Zlotowski cranks up the tension effectively enough"	NEU
United States	Jessica Kiang IndieWire	"What’s maybe more impressive than the bones of the story though, are the thoughtful, confident flourishes Zlotowski brings to the film, both on the script level and at the shooting stage"	POS
United States	Matt Goldberg Collider	"The staccato pacing constantly disrupts the mood, and while the two plots may share a tenuous thematic connection, they’re never fleshed out to the point where they carry serious dramatic weight"	NEG
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"I found it gripping, with an edge of delirium; the locations within the power station are positively Kubrickian; there's a disquieting electronic score and Tahar Rahim gives a very open, generous performance (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Ben Sachs Chicago Reader	"[It] starts as a piece of gritty social realism and gradually evolves into an old-fashioned romantic melodrama, but Zlotowski maintains such strong control over the material that the change doesn't feel jarring"	POS

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