54
Metascore
5 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoAnne Coesens, wife of the film's director, Olivier Masset-Depasse, gives a strong performance as Tania.
- 60Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfIllegal has caused a stir in Belgium, and the sincerity of the movie can't be denied. But there's little emotion to hold on to, apart from a mother's impotent concern about her wayward teenage son (Gontcharov), still on the outside.
- 50The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisOne problem is that while Mr. Masset-Depasse frames Tania's status in vague political terms, he doesn't make an argument. Instead he creates heroes and villains in what is, by turns, a prison flick, a psychological thriller and a maternal melodrama.
- 40Village VoiceMelissa AndersonVillage VoiceMelissa AndersonBlunt, loud, and showboaty, Illegal suffers even more when compared with another recent Liège-set film about the horrors faced by paperless immigrants: the Dardennes' "Lorna's Silence."