Control (Kontroll) (2005)
89%RT Audience Score: 89%
Awards & Nominations: 1 win & 9 nominations
Kontroll is a smart thriller that’s dark, gritty, and funny.
Control is a movie that takes place entirely underground, but don’t worry, it’s not as dark and depressing as it sounds. The film tells an unsettling fable about the struggle for freedom and the battles waged between the shadows and the things that glow. The characters are finely drawn and the black comedy is on point. It’s not a perfect film, but it’s definitely worth a watch. Plus, Hungary has never looked more buoyant!
Production Company(ies)
Walt Disney Pictures, Lin Pictures, Rideback
Distributor
ThinkFilm
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Key West, Florida Keys, Florida, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for frenetic disaster action and violence
Year of Release
1997
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital SDDS
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Aspect ratio:2:39:01
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Runtime:1h 45m
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Language(s):English, American, Sign, Language, Portuguese
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Apr 1, 2005 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 30, 2005
Genre(s)
Action
Keyword(s)
starring Sándor Csányi, Zoltán Mucsi, Sándor Badár, Csaba Pindroch, Zsolt Nagy, Lajos Kovács, Eszter Balla, directed by Nimród Antal, written by Jim Adler, Nimród Antal, action, Hungarian, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Roger Moore, Marrit Ingman, Lisa Kennedy, Richard Nilsen, Ted Fry, Mick LaSalle, Jason Gorber, Bruce Feld, Dennis Schwartz, Steve Schneider, Rob Thomas, Phil Villarreal, produced by Tamás Hutlassa, MPAA rating R, subway, thriller, dark, gritty, funny, oppression, quirky, commuters, train, relationship, sunlight, passengers, jumping, pushed, deaths, tracks
Worldwide gross: $164,508,066
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $306,656,337
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 489
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 33,441,258
US/Canada gross: $48,608,066
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $90,609,366
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 798
US/Canada opening weekend: $16,158,942
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $30,121,575
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 458
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $160,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $298,252,938
Production budget ranking: 19
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $160,609,207
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$152,205,807
ROI to date (est.): -33%
ROI ranking: 1,582
Zoltán Mucsi – Professor
Sándor Badár – Lecsó
Csaba Pindroch – Muki
Zsolt Nagy – Tibi
Lajos Kovács – Béla
Director(s)
Nimród Antal
Writer(s)
Jim Adler, Nimród Antal
Producer(s)
Tamás Hutlassa
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
1 win & 9 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (66) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (54) | Rotten (12)
May 13, 2009 | Rating: 4/5
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
TOP CRITIC
July 10, 2005 | Rating: 4/5
Marrit Ingman
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
You don’t need a deep, dark forest to tell an unsettling fable about the struggle for freedom or the battles waged between the shadows and the things that glow.
July 1, 2005 | Rating: 3/4
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post
TOP CRITIC
As a group of episodes, the movie keeps our interest not by linear plot, but by finely drawn characterizations.
June 23, 2005 | Rating: 4/5
Richard Nilsen
Arizona Republic
TOP CRITIC
Antal keenly juggles black comedy, character types and genre styles, making the most of the weird angles and inherent dark creepiness of his chosen backdrop.
May 27, 2005 | Rating: 2.5/4
Ted Fry
Seattle Times
TOP CRITIC
Singular in its location and singular in mood.
May 27, 2005 | Rating: 3/4
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
It’s not a perfect film by any means, but it certainly succeeds quite well in telling its tale with enough charm and gore to keep thing interesting.
June 21, 2007 | Rating: B
Jason Gorber
Film Scouts
Even though we spend the entire film underground, Hungary has never looked more buoyant.
March 1, 2007
Bruce Feld
Film Journal International
Though the film is crowd-pleasing enjoyable, it never fully brings in enough light to its underground setting to completely satisfy as a fully realized work.
November 3, 2005 | Rating: B-
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
[A] nimble dark comedy.
August 4, 2005
Steve Schneider
Orlando Weekly
This is supremely confident filmmaking for a newcomer, and should give Antal a one-way ticket to bigger things.
July 28, 2005 | Rating: 3.5/4
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)
Antal proudly wears Tarantino influences, lingering in humorous conversations that race out on tangents, adding flavor to characters while also subtly developing themes.
July 22, 2005 | Rating: 3/4
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star…
Plot
Annie Porter, the woman who was held on a bus with a bomb attached to it that will go off if it slows down. She dated the cop who saved her but broke up with him because he was constantly putting his life in danger. She would then date a guy named Alex who is also a cop but told her that he does a mundane assignment. But she eventually learns that he works for the same unit that the other guy worked for and is also addicted to danger. She wants to break up with but he surprises her with a cruise. She agrees to go. And he’s planning to propose to her. But when he notices another passenger act peculiar, he can’t help but try to find out what’s up with him. He’s Geiger, a computer man who designed the ship’s systems, who was fired. He then takes over the ship’s systems and sets it on a course that will send it into a tanker. Alex tries to stop him.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film Kontroll features a cast of “borderline-incompetent subway cops” dealing with abusive commuters and a rash of apparent suicides.
Nimród-Antal.jpg
