Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Clarissa Mora The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

trublu215 Citadel centers on Tommy, a recently widowed father and his newborn daughter as he begins to cope with the loss of his wife after a brutal attack by local hoodlums. In trying to cope with the loss, Tommy begins to develop a fear of living life and soon he begins to be stalked by her attackers. Citadel is an impressive debut and serves an original idea up but relies heavily on a slow burn screenplay that doesn't always serve it justice. Despite some ultra elongated scenes, Citadel is creepy, violent and very atmospheric. Directed by Ciarian Foy, the film works as a psychological thriller done much in the vein of Them and The Strangers and ends up being a bit of a combo of both. Foy, who also wrote the film, knows how to deliver some hard hitting drama and gets very good performances out of Aneurin Barnard and James Cosmo but he spends entirely too much time creating a slow burn thriller that it tends to drift into some truly low key moments that just are not all that interesting. The first ten minutes are very straight forward and are delivered very well, then Foy decides to spend the next twenty five minutes analyzing agoraphobia. It is interesting for the first couple scenes but Foy seems to keep it frustratingly slow up until the third act. Still, nonetheless, when Citadel kicks off it, it really kicks. The final twenty minutes are very well crafted and, while a bit ridiculous, serves as a very satisfying end to the film. On a technical level, Citadel is on point. Most notably from behind the scenes would be the cinematography. The entire film is done hand held, and really submerses you into this frightening vision of Ireland. It is most certainly the highlight of the film. Overall, Citadel may satisfy some fans of films like House of the Devil, Them, and The Strangers but it doesn't have the spark it needs to be truly engrossing.

reelbloody Have you ever seen the synopsis for a movie and thought to yourself, "Oh yea, this is gonna be great!" only to be let down within the first 30 minutes? Well, this happened to me this week. I checked out a film called Citadel. No, it was not about a college in Charleston, SC for military kids, it is an Irish film written and directed by Ciaran Foy. Citadel is about a father who teams up with what I call an insane priest to save his daughter from a gang of violent, demented kids. Sounds pretty cool, right? Well, here are my thoughts: I will start by saying that I really wanted to like this movie...I did. The first few minutes you get a little action and then you're like "Okay, here we go." I spent the next 15 minutes of boredom only trying to convince myself that the main character was not played by John Mayer because if I didn't find something to keep me interested, I would have fallen asleep. Listen, this movie is not a total poop fest, it isn't. I think the problem is, it just was not MY cup of tea. I have spoken with people who liked it, and I did not immediately want to hurl things at their faces...I understood.

atinder This was a really good movie , actually it was a great movie.This movie did not take long to get going and what a way to start a movie. With the pregnant lady , It was nasty not gory, it was nasty as it is a really nasty thing to do.I really like the rest of the movie, as we get to see the father is scared of going out side his house, which gives their movie more of a intense feel to it.You may be thinking this sounds like a another movie called Them. however this movie is far from it, as it is a bit of a plot later in the movie.I don't know if I miss it, I don't think they explained who or what they were.Fantastic acting , and great movie 9/10

PhilipGHarris Citadel is an excellent example of how to make a horror film and manage your budget successfully. Unlike many other horror films the writer/directors intention are realised well, the abandoned buildings make an exceptionally atmospheric and filmic setting and the main feature of plot and story is not abandoned for cheap effects.Filmed in the dead of winter the ice and snow only adds to the greyness of the lead characters world. Tony has lost almost everything and suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result,making him terrified of going out for fear of assault. His wife, who he witnesses being attacked at the hands of hooded youths, is the route of this trauma and being left with a newly born daughter merely adds to his woes. Early in the film he is simply stifled by fear of everything but his therapy sessions and the friendship of the nurse caring for his wife, Marie, allow him to try and move on. After meeting a priest who claims the hooded youths will return for his daughter Tommy's life changes as he gets more fearful of this day and makes an attempt to escape from his life, only to find he is drawn closer to his terrors. The priest and the young blind boy, Danny, he cares for leading him to finally face his fears.Using modern concerns about society and twisting them neatly Ciaran Foy has created a selection of interesting characters and woven them together to create an enjoyably tense and disturbing tale. This is significantly helped by the four main characters and their actors, Tommy (Aneurin Barnard), the priest (James Cosmo), Marie (Wunmi Mosaku) and Danny (Jake Wilson) who all have interesting parts to play and are obviously fully engaged in the project.Effects are meagre throughout the film but are used to add to the atmosphere and the message about facing or at least realising fear is well made with an ending that completes the heroes journey.Direction throughout is good, with classic build ups to shocks and scares which work well; that's why they're classics. The cinematography is clear, directing the watchers eye to the horror and the sound effects are used well. If you're looking for big budget special effects in your horror this is not the film for you but if you're after something more claustrophobic and disturbing, playing on modern beliefs about customs and morality then Citadel is worthy of 90 minutes of your time.