Click here!

This Must be the Place (15)

Comedy, Drama

A bored, retired rock star sets out to find his father's executioner, an ex-Nazi war criminal who is a refugee in the U.S.

More information on this production is available at www.trinityfilm.co.uk.

The critical consensus

It might not all work, it might risk absurdity at times but there is a bracing aesthetic and gentle humanity to This Must Be The Place that encourages you to overlook the flaws and embrace the ambition of it.

****(*)Allan Hunter, The List, 19/03/2012

Succeeding against the odds and adroitly blending its disparate elements, this is a fine entry into the Eurodirector-gawps-at-America subgenre.

****(*)Andrew Lowry, Total Film, 26/03/2012

It’s an intriguing patchwork of a picture, with all the direction of a wonky-wheeled suitcase.

***(*)(*)Siobhan Synnot, The Scotsman, 01/04/2012

Determinedly quirky and cool, arresting and ultimately too baffling to be satisfying, although Penn is priceless. Cultdom beckons.

***(*)(*)Angie Errigo, Empire Online, 03/04/2012

Penn is funny and sweet, but, as ever, he plays the character with utter conviction, refusing to treat Chayenne, or the pleasingly oddball premise, as a joke.

****(*)Alistair Harkness, The Scotsman, 05/04/2012

Sean Penn discovers his sense of humour as a retired goth rocker reconnecting with his past – but director Paolo Sorrentino's road-movie takes a puzzling left-turn.

***(*)(*)Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 05/04/2012

Worth catching for the stunning soundtrack and Sorrentino’s mad direction.

***(*)(*)Tom Seymour, Little White Lies, 05/04/2012

The story might prove too outrageous for many. Ditto the film's relentless strangeness.

***(*)(*)Alison Rowat, The Herald, 05/04/2012

To say the plot is overcrowded is putting it mildly, and it's hard to feel any sincere connection with Cheyenne's encounters when all of them seem to have been hatched within the same factory of oddball movie characters.

*(*)(*)(*)(*)Anthony Quinn, The Independent, 06/04/2012

A great score from David Byrne puts the icing on this unruly but beguiling production.

****(*)Allan Hunter, Daily Express, 06/04/2012

It’s even weirder than it sounds but, crucially, much less fun.

David Edwards, Daily Record, 06/04/2012

The cameo from Harry Dean Stanton only reminds us that Wim Wenders has been down this road before to better effect, while the manner in which Sorrentino wastes Frances McDormand is simply criminal.

**(*)(*)(*)Philip Concannon, The Skinny, 04/04/2012

Along the way there are occasional arresting images, but they prove minor compensations.

Philip French, The Observer, 08/04/2012

Though the storyline threatens to open an interesting debate on grand narratives and purpose, by the time the film reaches its dénouement you can’t help but feel the Nazi hunt was more of a distraction than an answer. That said, this is undoubtedly a piece that will reveal more with each viewing.

***(*)(*)Rory Edgington, TV Bomb, 10/04/2012


Features about This Must be the Place (15)

Director Paolo Sorrentino discusses This Must Be the Place

Tom Dawson, The List, 19/03/2012

This Must Be the Place: When a rock god takes on a Nazi

David Gritten, The Telegraph, 05/04/2012

This Must be the Place (15)

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

Comments: 0 (Add)

To post a comment, you need to sign in or register. Forgotten password? Click here.

Find a show


Search the site


Find us on …

Find us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterFind us on YouTube