- TV
Documentary thriller unravelling the mysterious, legendary French con artist Frédéric Bourdin and his most famous coup: convincing authorities and a victim's...
Documentary thriller unravelling the mysterious, legendary French con artist Frédéric Bourdin and his most famous coup: convincing authorities and a victim's family that he is a 16-year-old American boy who had gone missing three years earlier. Says Bourdin: "From as long as I can remember, I wanted to be someone else. Someone acceptable".
In 1994 a 13-year-old boy disappeared without a trace from San Antonio, Texas. Three and a half years later he is found alive, thousands of miles away in a village in Southern Spain with a story of kidnap and torture. His family is overjoyed to bring him home. But all is not quite as it seems. The boy bears many of the same distinguishing marks he always had, but why does he now have a strange accent? Why does he look so different? And why doesn't the family seem to notice these glaring inconsistencies? It's only when an investigator starts asking questions that this strange tale takes an even stranger turn…
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95 %118 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® rating
78 %93,731 reviewsAudience score rating
"The Imposter makes slick work of its wily subject, using atmospheric reenactments and stark, soul-baring interviews to explore a mind-boggling case of false identity."
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Variety
Variety"Creepier than "Catfish" and as cinematic as "Man On Wire," this is an unnerving story immaculately told and a strong contender for documentary of the year."
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Total Film
Total Film"Blessed with an improbable-but-true story that functions on many ironic levels, this clever documentary ultimately conveys more about the complex American character - shifting between intimacy and criminality - than a whole shelf of fiction films."
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Time Out
Time Out"Slippery, manipulative, unstable and smoothly confounding. One of the most entertaining documentaries to appear since Exit Through the Gift Shop..."
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The New York Times
The New York Times"Pure, delicious suspense."
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The Guardian
The Guardian"A movie that offers hard speculation and harder truths. You won't be able to get it out of your head."
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Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone"This is a train wreck you think you see coming, but no matter how prepared you are the nature and extent of the damage will overwhelm you."
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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times"The mysteries stick with you. In 20 years time, someone will leap up and shout, "Eureka!""
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Little White Lies
Little White Lies"That old idiom about truth being stranger than fiction is an understatement when applied to Bart Layton’s enthralling documentary."
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Hollywood Reporter
Hollywood Reporter"The year's most fascinating and frightening doc so far, The Imposter delves far beneath the hysterical tabloid headlines."
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Empire Magazine
Empire MagazineThe Imposter | Details
- Runtime
- 99
- Genre
- Documentary
- Country of origin
- UK
