Savage Grace

Savage Grace (2007)

  • 37% of critics liked it
    (91 reviews)

  • 39% of users liked it
    (12,181 ratings)

Adapted from the nonfiction book by Natalie Robins and Steven M.L. Aronson, Tom Kalin's Savage Grace recounts the true crime tale of the death of Barbara Baekeland. Stephen Dillane stars as Brooks Baekeland, the son of the man who invented Bakelite, one of the early forms of plastic. As the family… More

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Unrated, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed By
Tom Kalin
Written By
Howard A. Rodman
Genres
Drama
In Theaters
May 18, 2007 Wide
On DVD
Dec 23, 2008
IFC First Take

Critic Reviews

  • Bruce Demara, Toronto Star

    While the pace occasionally flags and there are times when we wonder where Kalin is leading us, he maintains a pervasive sense of dread and unease throughout that makes the chilling climax seem both shocking and inevitable.

  • Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

    Though the characters may be repellent, the film permits you to feel sympathy.

  • Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle

    It's a horror story, all right, but the reason for telling it remains unclear, and it seems like a waste of Kalin's evident talent.

  • Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times

    For that particular someone, Savage Grace could be the perfect summer chiller.ca

  • Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

    If ever there was a film to extinguish any envy of the lifestyles of the rich and famous, Savage Grace is it.

Read all 16 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Daniel M


    When a film critic describes a film as ‘admirable’, it is usually a polite way of saying that the film is disappointing. You have to admire Steven Spielberg for making Schindler’s List, or Terry Gilliam for finishing The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. But all the good feeling… More

  • Lorenzo v


    <i>"Truth is more shocking than fiction."</i> A dramatization of the shocking Barbara Daly Baekeland murder case, which happened in a posh London flat on Friday 17 November 1972. The bloody crime caused a stir on both sides of the Atlantic and remains one of… More

  • Drew S


    Circling around Savage Grace is this insane self-contained vortex of almost inhuman behavior, a white trash atom bomb just barely held back at the seams by these delusions of class and nobility. Director Tom Kalin is this story's downfall; he doesn't know how to efficiently… More

  • William D


    [size=3]"Savage Grace," which has a stunning cast led by [b]Julianne Moore[/b], is a complex, beautiful, dark film. It has its weaknesses, such as the tendency toward dramatic slackness in the first two-thirds. But it also has extraordinary strengths. The dramatic slackness,… More

  • Mark A


    A true story, providing one more example of how money can't make one happy. Barbara (Julianne Moore) was an actress who married into the Baekeland family fortune. Her husband winds up leaving her for a much younger woman, and the movie follows the downward spiral of Barbara and… More

Read all 12 featured audience ratings

Cast

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