The Burnt Orange Heresy

"The appeal of watching these fabulous, perfectly able performers casting aspersions on each other in the idyllic surroundings of Lake Como is not lost on me. Jagger having a ball, saying things like “Art is a harsh mistress”. Bang turning on his best peak-Brosnan urbane charm. Debicki enlivening every scene she is in. But the stars’ charisma can only do so much heavy lifting to sustain narrative interest. Giuseppe Capotondi’s direction leans toward sleepy and formally staid, lacking the pleasurable side of low-key and leisurely that generally works for this kind of material."

"Elizabeth Debicki is on fire in (this) slinky but inert Euro-thriller..."

"A seductive noir that, as a whole, comes up empty."

"While it’s not the most clever or brilliant thriller, it’s exciting nonetheless and will have you on the edge of your seat to the end."

"Makes for a mostly smart and sexy crime drama, even if it loses steam by the time the ridiculous ending rolls around."

"Director Giuseppe Capotondi... gets fine performances from everyone, even though their characters and the story never snap into satisfying focus."

"Takes itself a little too seriously to be truly enjoyable."

"Lacks the bite to sell itself as consciously self-satirising..."

"Mick Jagger adds dash of malice to arty thriller."

"The Burnt Orange Heresy was a fine diversion on a grim and grey afternoon. It made me laugh, it held me in its twists and it sent me home ready to find a copy of Charles Willeford's 1971 novel."

"The film allows that we are complicit in privilege for our fascination and envy."

"The idea that art, like love, is something that you can make or fake, and that surprisingly few people can tell the difference, will always be ripe for exploration. And yet the movie stumbles."

"The screenplay and the actors ooze charm as well as intelligence early on but the second half is more like a sleek thriller, something that's efficient but less jocular and surprising."

"Halfway through... the air goes out of the shaggy-dog plotting: a climactic pileup of unfortunate events is both rushed and unsurprising, leaving the actors with little room to dart and play."

"For all the commitment that Claes Bang and Elizabeth Debicki bring to the central roles, their characters never really emerge as autonomous beings from the faintly preposterous story they're trapped in."