The Unforgivable movie review (2021) | Roger Ebert (2024)

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The Unforgivable movie review (2021) | Roger Ebert (1)

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I know what unrepented sins I’ve committed to deserve the Divine punishment that is Netflix’s “The Unforgivable,” but you have a chance to be penitent and avoid it. This is three movies in one, each of which is progressively worse. We start with a tale of repentance, which leads to a brief lawyer drama before descending into a distasteful kidnapping and assault thriller. It is based on a TV series, unseen by me, so perhaps this explains how overstuffed this feels. Sandra Bullock has reason to appear in this—she’s also the producer—but great veterans like Vincent D’Onofrio, W. Earl Brown, and Viola Davis have no excuse. In particular, Davis’ scenes are questionable; she has a throwaway line that I’m sure the filmmakers didn’t intend for me to seriously consider. But it’s such a jarring, out of place comment that it colored my own analysis.

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Not that the omission of the line would have made this a better film. Had the filmmakers interrogated its meaning, it might have elevated the work, however. Here’s the context: Bullock’s Ruth Slater gets out of prison and makes her way to the house of Liz and John Ingram (Davis and D’Onofrio, respectively). It’s in the middle of nowhere in a rural area outside Seattle. Slater used to live here. In fact, her crime was committed in this very house. “The Murder House,” the newspapers called it, a fact that neither member of the married couple knew beforehand. This is how “The Amityville Horror” started! But I digress. Slater was convicted of killing a cop and served a 20-year sentence. Now she’s trying to find Katie, the sister she left behind while incarcerated.

Jim invites this complete stranger, who looks like she’s been riding the rails in a Depression-era movie, into his house. Liz’s “did you just invite this suspicious-looking White woman into my house” look is priceless. Slater lies about her intentions, but once she finds out Jim’s a lawyer, she levels with him about trying to legally locate Katie. Jim drives her back to the bus station as they chat. Meanwhile, Liz does some research of her own and, when Jim returns home, he gets the Viola Davis lecture that’s her stock in trade. It includes the line I’ve been questioning: “She killed somebody in cold blood,” Liz tells her oddly sympathetic husband. “If that had been any of your Black sons who had been in the system, they would be dead.”

Liz is right, but why is this mentioned here? “The Unforgivable” keeps giving the impression that we should have some empathy for Slater, a woman who served her time, but it can’t help tripping over references to her privilege and making us apathetic. She even gets out of prison early for good behavior, which sets the stage for the revenge subplot. For most of the movie, we don’t know why Slater feels entitled to seek out the sister who may have been too young to remember her at all. Katie’s guardians (Richard Thomas and Linda Emond) make this valid point during the lawyer drama scenes. What good would it serve? It just seems like she’s being a troublemaker. Katie (Aisling Franciosi) already has enough stress. In the opening scene, we see her black out and get into a major car accident.

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Director Nora Fingscheidt and writers Peter Craig, Hillary Seitz, and Courtenay Miles keep Slater’s reasons for reuniting with Katie from you in the hopes of generating mystery-based suspense. To do this, they use one of my biggest pet peeves: repeated flashback snippets that only show bits and pieces of the sheriff’s murder. They’re done in that clichéd soft-focus, then edited with the quick flashes that always telegraph that what we think happened most definitely did not. Here, it’s the same shots over and over, as if the flashback budget was $1.39. By the sixth time I saw a screaming little girl burying her face in a disembodied shoulder, I was ready to scream with her.

I wish I could tell you the infuriating cop-out “The Unforgivable” employs regarding its murder mystery. But I can tell you about that aforementioned revenge subplot. The sons of the murdered sheriff are none-too-happy that Slater’s out of jail. One brother wants to let it be, the other is following her and dreaming of kidnapping, violence and murder, especially when he finds out about Katie. Of course, it’s the passive one who will turn out to be vicious, but what’s the point of suddenly turning this into a thriller? If it’s meant to inspire sympathy for Slater, this plotline, and a scene where she’s brutally beaten by the daughter of another cop, does so by making law enforcement out to be a hotbed of violent, immoral cops and the barbaric children they’ve raised. Was that the intention?

Bullock walks through this with a perpetual scowl and a lack of makeup that screams “please, sweet Jesus, let me win another Oscar.” Rob Morgan has a few good scenes as her parole officer where he dispenses advice while scolding her for being so damn clueless. “You’re a cop killer everywhere!” he tells her as she unwisely believes her life will go back to normal. She’s shockingly remorseless, and we eventually learn why, but waiting for it doesn’t make good drama. Davis is intense, but she’s completely wasted. Her scene where she succumbs to Slater’s bogarting when the latter starts crying crocodile tears is a complete betrayal of Davis’ character.

I guess the biggest question I took away from this movie was “who is the ‘unforgivable’ of the title?” Is it Slater? The violent brothers? The system? The adopted parents who lied to Katie? This movie can’t decide. Perhaps the TV show, with the benefit of time to flesh out all aspects of its story, did a better job handling all this and providing a satisfactory level of either answers or ambiguity. At under two hours, this movie is an unwatchable, punishing hot mess that doesn’t earn its last scene of catharsis. You can’t feel any relief if you just don’t care.

Now playing in select theaters and available on Netflix on December 10th.

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Film Credits

The Unforgivable movie review (2021) | Roger Ebert (9)

The Unforgivable (2021)

Rated Rfor language and violence.

113 minutes

Cast

Sandra Bullockas Ruth Slater

Jon Bernthal

Vincent D'Onofrio

Rob Morgan

Viola Davis

Aisling Franciosi

Richard Thomas

Linda Emondas Rachel Malcolm

Emma Nelson

Director

  • Nora Fingscheidt

Writer (based on the TV series "Unforgiven" by)

  • Sally Wainwright

Writer

  • Peter Craig
  • Hillary Seitz
  • Courtenay Miles

Editor

  • Joe Walker
  • Stephan Bechinger

Cinematographer

  • Guillermo Navarro

Composer

  • David Fleming
  • Hans Zimmer

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The Unforgivable movie review (2021) | Roger Ebert (2024)

FAQs

The Unforgivable movie review (2021) | Roger Ebert? ›

At under two hours, this movie is an unwatchable, punishing hot mess that doesn't earn its last scene of catharsis.

Is The Unforgivable a good movie? ›

The Unforgivable is a quiet thriller that works on so many levels. But at times, the pacing and story does waver slightly. Fresh score. Sandra Bullock plays a woman fresh out of prison fighting to restart her life.

What is the message of the movie The Unforgivable? ›

Major themes involve perseverance, family bonds, redemption. Also honest communication about how difficult it is for formerly incarcerated adults to find work or get a second chance.

Should I watch the unforgivable? ›

This story of redemption, pain and regret could have been a maudlin slog with a lesser actress inhabiting Ruth Slater, but in the hands of Bullock, it's simply a must-see.

Is The Unforgivable a true story? ›

No, the film is not based on real events.

How old was Sandra Bullock in The Unforgivable? ›

But they did. In the film, directed by Nora Fingscheidt and based on the 2009 British miniseries Unforgiven, Bullock, 57, plays Ruth Slater, a convicted murderer released from prison after serving 20 years.

Is there a plot twist in the unforgivable? ›

The reunion happens after flashbacks reveal the twist — that it was actually 5-year-old Katie who had accidentally shot the sheriff in a moment of distress, not Ruth, and that Ruth had taken the blame and gone to prison to protect her sister.

What crime did Ruth commit in the unforgivable? ›

Plot. Ruth Slater is released from prison after serving twenty years for killing a sheriff who came to evict her and her five-year-old sister, Katie, from their home in Snohomish, Washington. Upon her release, she gets two jobs, and begins to search for her estranged younger sister.

What happened to Ruth's sister in The Unforgivable? ›

Katie, now living with her adoptive family, barely remembers Ruth, but experiences memories of trauma. These memories cause Katie to be involved in a car accident, and she is forced to return to her adoptive parents' home while she recovers.

Why did Sandra Bullock make the unforgivable? ›

Bullock, a true-crime junkie, signed on to produce as well as star in “The Unforgivable” after she was captivated by the script, which is based on the original 2009 British miniseries of the same name.

What is the plot of Unforgivable? ›

Does the unforgivable have bad scenes? ›

The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language and violence.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a sex scene with partial nudity, a murder by gunshot with bloody injuries shown, several fight scenes with bloody wounds and bruises shown, a kidnapping, a death during childbirth and a death by suicide, many ...

Where was The Unforgivable filmed? ›

The Unforgivable Locations

The cinematographer used stock and B-roll footage of Seattle to establish its location, but all of the scenes were shot on location in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, or in a studio.

Why did Katie shoot the cop unforgivable? ›

Katie shot him because she thought she was supposed to. Ruth kept yelling that she'd shoot him if he came inside, so that's what Katie did.

Is The Unforgivable a sad movie? ›

We are clued in to what happened through a series of flashbacks and memories, and by movie's end, it will break your heart to one degree or another. It is a sad story.

Did Katie remember Ruth in The Unforgivable? ›

The police arrive and arrest Steve for kidnapping, and Kate sees Ruth for the first time. Recognizing her as the woman in her memories, she gives Ruth a warm hug, thanking her quietly for granting her a childhood that could be as loving and safe as it could be.

What was her crime in the unforgivable movie? ›

Ruth Slater is released from prison after serving twenty years for killing a sheriff who came to evict her and her five-year-old sister, Katie, from their home in Snohomish, Washington. Upon her release, she gets two jobs, and begins to search for her estranged younger sister.

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