Kontroll

A fun bizzare romp set in the Budapest metro that offers a glimpse of the work of the ticket inspectors. I found the film very funny in places, there are some good lines, the main characters are good and the film is unexpectedly gritty at times. Definitely a thankless job. Interesting, weird and unconventional, but I liked it. 75%. (11/09/2018)

This is quite a good trip, or how to make an interesting film out of a relatively uninteresting topic. Although it's true that auditors can be portrayed in various ways, you still don't expect what you get in the Hungarian rendition. It's an interesting, quirky ride, it's gritty, it's MTV-esque, but it all comes together to make a good whole. (26/04/2017)

A mysterious thriller from the underground world of the subway which looks strikingly similar to Prague’s metro. The atmosphere of deserted stations is perfect and it also has a healthy dose of humor. But then it is all the more disappointing that, in the end, it all seems to trail off into nothing and, although the creators’ idol is clearly David Lynch, this movie has very little to do with “mysticism". Even so, it can’t be denied that Control is slowly (but surely) becoming a cult classic. Only time will tell if this is a deserved status. (29/01/2005)

A very atmospheric spectacle, which draws on the closed spaces of the metro, rather than the elaborate plot structure, from the dark and inspiring motif of the world on the periphery of our sight. The somewhat loose narrative material is carried by great actors and pointed out situations from the lives of Hungarian auditors, and in the end it is satisfactorily moved by the completion of the symbolic level. The story of the "renegade" Bulcs, who is in exile from the outside world in the darkness of the metro, is sometimes permeated by Lynch-style balancing on the edge of dream and reality, on the edge of reality and fantasy. It is more so allusive, but as a result very important for the atmosphere of Kontroll. A strange, original and supremely modern film (an excellent combination of music and image!), which our harmonious Menzel-Svěrávkov cinemas noticeably lack. (20/01/2007)

Antal's unequivocal triumph is his divine ability to portray the atmosphere you submerge into as you descend the escalators (sometimes even as you're descending or heading "down below"). It's a world of dubious existences symbolizing distance, isolation, danger, distrust, and general unhappiness, if only because there is simply no escape from these people at that given moment. It's actually quite logical that if you do such a fine job as a ticket inspector with dedication and intensity, it can gradually give your psyche quite a solid workout and it’s a very short road to madness and an inability to tell what’s real. The psychedelic scenes were absolutely magnificent and perfectly underlined the psychological depth of the film. The environment was utilized to the last millimeter, several impressive action scenes, the incredible ability to create and, above all, maintain a perfectly psycho atmosphere throughout, plus the de facto multi-genre entertainment put Control in the category of very remarkable debuts. (02/11/2013)