The Imposter

The Observer“One of the year's most provocative pictures...” Eventually, after living with the Barclay family for almost five months, Bourdin's story unravelled, and he was exposed as a French imposter who specialises in imitating abandoned teenagers. He's more childlike than charismatic, a dangerous innocent.

Guardian“Pure suspense from start to finish...” Anyone who goes to the movies knows how few fiction features have a good ending, or anything other than a good pitch, or opening premise. This one has a brutally powerful final twist, which resolves chillingly into a minor key of ambiguity...

Little White Lies“The mysteries stick with you...” Layton relishes the absurd, confident that there is nothing that can diminish the strength and strangeness of the story he has found...His film is accomplished and creative and intentionally generates more questions than it answers...

The Arts Desk“The Imposter is giddy with promise...” A one of a kind filmic experience that even Stephen King couldn’t have dreamt up - with an ending that will haunt you forever. The Imposter would be brilliant fiction. That it is true makes this the documentary of 2012...

Time Out“Startling, provocative, witty and affecting...” As smart as it is confident, worthy of comparison to such documentary big-hitters as ‘The Thin Blue Line’ and ‘Waltz with Bashir’, and quite a surprise coming from a Brit with no background in features. See it and be truly beguiled....

Empire“A richly ambiguous study of epic identity theft...” The year’s most fascinating and frightening doc so far, The Imposter delves far beneath the hysterical tabloid headlines...

The Telegraph“A tremendously assured debut...” Often, it feels like a Coen brothers film that has somehow crossed over from fiction to fact. The plot is every bit as warped as Fargo – itself a made-up story masquerading as a true one...

Total Film “Beautifully crafted...” In lesser hands, such technique might feel like a cheat. After all, documentaries are about establishing the truth, however ugly, not colluding in a fantasist’s beautiful cruelties. But this is a documentary about fabricating stories...