The 9th Life of Louis Drax

The film promises a fabulous twist that never comes, and delivers instead some cutesy magical realist touches (lots of interior boy brain stuff) and a palpable lack of chemistry between Dornan and Gadon.

Louis Drax shoves magic and monsters into a story that's already overpacked with grindhouse violence, a police procedural, a queasy romance, and incoherent social commentary.

[An] odd, intriguing film ...

A dopey psychological thriller that combines elements of "The Sixth Sense" with an overbearing sentimentality, "The 9th Life of Louis Drax" flat-lines from beginning to end.

Works as both a children's movie for adults and a grownup movie for kids, a rare balancing act most young-adult fare can't pull off.

What might be engrossing in Liz Jensen's source novel is oddly opaque in this screen mishmash, and much of what's meant to be tense or suspenseful is merely awkward.

A handsome film that feels like Guillermo Del Toro Lite. Aja's film isn't quite as deep or magical as it thinks it is, but it's a nice, mostly entertaining adaptation of a complex novel.

The aesthetics of a television melodrama, a pastiche that wants to be more ingenious than it really can. [Full Review in Spanish]

There was potential for The 9th Life of Louis Drax to be something more than it is, but it just holds itself back in so many different ways.

The 9th Life of Louis Drax is a quirky and atmospheric film noir. It's a stylish and sinister head-scratcher that will keep you hooked until its epic conclusion.