"Dogville is a film that, in its flooring penultimate chapter, reverses the usual tables, only to implicate von Trier himself, whose self-criticism here is every bit as incisive as any vitriol spewed America's way... Whether you admire this film or flat-out despise it, you certainly won't walk away unaffected. It's as devastating as it is deeply troubling... I was breathless and more genuinely shaken up than I've been by a film in a very long time."

"No matter how you come down on this movie politically, Dogville is a compelling chamber piece with constant cinematic surprises."

"Dogville is not a cry of rage against America — it's a cry of rage against all mankind. It demands to be seen but not to be loved."

"It stalks silently, stark with its minimalism at first, and then pounces unexpectedly with an overwhelming wash of emotion like a rabid animal, with sharp piercing teeth."

"Challenging, dramatic, provocative."

"What's amazing about von Trier's alienating ploys is how quickly they make the movie enthralling. What starts out as distracting works to bring us in closer to what we should be concentrating on: the passion of Nicole Kidman's tragic heroine, and what her suffering says about the hope of all mankind."

"Dogville is conjured out of chalk outlines and stark stage effects. The floor plans of the tiny houses are stenciled on the ground, as are invisible streets and phantom landmarks like the prized gooseberry bushes and the nonexistent dog whose nonetheless audible bark signals the arrival of a stranger. … Young Tom Edison, worried without any obvious reason that the town is in need of moral rearmament, wishes for a test of its virtues, a real-life illustration (one of his favorite words) of his vague notions of community and responsibility. Grace, who is fleeing from big-city gangsters, seems to offer a perfect opportunity. She is reluctant to impose on the town's kindness but also utterly helpless. Dogville rises to the challenge of her presence by opening its arms in generosity, and then enclosing her in a pious, self-justifying embrace of indentured servitude, humiliation and, eventually, sexual slavery. … One of the film's grimmest scenes, the first of several rapes, takes place in one of the houses, and the camera pulls back through the invisible walls to the streets of the town, where the other Dogvilleans are going about their desultory business. Their obliviousness to what is taking place in the children's bedroom over at Vera and Chuck's house seems like a malign and active refusal to acknowledge it, a symbol of the repressive, willed innocence that is among the town's many sins. The people of Dogville are proud, hypocritical and never more dangerous than when they are convinced of the righteousness of their actions."

"It's the best stage play you've ever attended, and you feel as if you're right in the middle of it."

"You just have to see it to believe it. Frankly, I have never seen anything like it, which is not to say that it's good or bad, but it is different and even original."

"Kidman, in a performance as emotionally stark as any she's ever given, makes Grace's journey achingly real, even though everything around her is deliberately artificial."

"Maddening, challenging and audacious, Dogville is an unlikely masterpiece."

"Running a painfully long three hours, Dogville is pretentious with a capital 'P."

"Unapologetically cynical, miraculously imaginative, and sumptuously beautiful, Dogville is a thought-provoking time at the movies."

"Controversial, intelligent and daring, Dogville features a career-best performance from Nicole Kidman... At three hours it certainly stretches the patience, and any movie inspired by German playwright Berthold Brecht isn't likely to have mass audience appeal. But for all the ideas being examined, it works as a compelling drama too, and the acting is excellent... Dogville is a shock to the system."

"It's like von Trier's expression of bewilderment at the idea of Christ. Like Mel Gibson, he portrays intense evil to make us wonder at the generosity of Grace."

"I'd be hard-pressed to argue that the gloomy Dane wants anyone to actually like Dogville." Yes, it plays like a baldfaced, brazen insult, but it is a stunningly accomplished one. It hurts, but maybe it should."

"It's a tough sit through tough questions."

"Utterly engrossing."

"Dogville is another round of brazen disrespect from cinema's baddest boy. But the movie, despite its ultimate nuttiness, has a quiet, consuming power that sneaks up on you and doesn't go away."

"The only thing simple you can say about Dogville is that it's a masterpiece."

"This unique cinematic experience is a parable of greed and revenge that could take place anywhere."

"A punishing film to sit through, and its rewards may well depend on how much credit you wish to give von Trier for doing something different. Because, for better or worse, Dogville is unlike anything else you'll see on screens this year."

"A satanic Our Town."

"It's a bleak view of humanity expounded here, giving much food for thought, and for meditation on the concepts of humanity, tolerance, acceptance."

"A tenacious, brutal drama that dares you to turn your back."

"It's simply a movie whose bite is as harsh and hard as its bark."

"Dogville is in no way a standard film and likely won't appeal to many. But Von Trier is so inventive, so outlandish and so filled with energy he has to at least be admired."

"A marvel — but the film's stylized technique makes great demands on cast and audience alike."

"A stunning display of a filmmaker adventuring on the far side of what's possible."

"Imprints itself on the consciousness and hauntingly lingers."

"Nearly as powerful as Von Trier's Dancer in the Dark."

"This is a seriously important film and a huge achievement."

"Without a doubt one of the most brilliant films I have had the chance to experience."

"Who but von Trier could make such a film? Who else would dare?"

"I hate it, yet I'm fascinated by the magnitude of the ambition and the failure to realize it."

"It would take a true knucklehead not to understand that Dogville isn’t so much Anywhere, U.S.A., as anywhere. It really is a masterpiece — von Trier’s first, as it happens."

"Dogville is no different from von Trier's earlier parables of vulnerability and brutality. And like those works, it is the staggering, infuriating work of a visionary filmmaker."

"Aesthetically sparse and thematically audacious, the searing work of a genuine provocateur"

"Damn if I didn't completely forget to hate Dogville, and if I wasn't, three hours later, completely blown out of my little mind and right into the screening room next door.... You wanna see what our town is like? Here it is, in all its mean, petty, horrible smallness. It's not particularly about American meanness or pettiness or smallness, though some have accused von Trier of being anti-American — it's about human meanness, etc. The only thing "anti" about Dogville is that it might be called an anti-epic — an ambitious movie with a big cast and a marathon runtime that's about how small and insular and selfish people can be, about the miserable depths to which human beings can sink in their cruelty to others. Nationality's got nothing to do with it, though the ability to wield power over other human beings might, and so there might be some pertinent application to America as a whole right now. But everyone will — or should — recognize the universality of this, the worst side of humanity."

"Dogville is as deeply insightful as it is deeply disturbing, a movie that will challenge you intellectually and punish you emotionally. Put as succinctly as possible, Dogville is a "holy fuck!" movie going experience... The first great film of '04."

"Brutally masterful allegory."

"While you watch the movie, it can seem ridiculously long-winded... But once it's over, its characters' miserable faces remain etched in your memory, and its cynical message lingers."

"For passion, originality, and sustained chutzpah, this austere allegory of failed Christian charity and Old Testament payback is von Trier's strongest movie — a masterpiece, in fact."

"Sarcastic humor, inventive staging and a brutal story combine to give Dogville the force of a bonfire, incendiary and beautiful."

"Slow-moving but engrossing, it feels shorter, and any reservations you may have about the unorthodox approach are washed away by its unexpected and purgative ending."

"This acerbic "illustration" of a small town’s curious notions of entitlement unspools as a Christian allegory by way of Mark Twain or Dr. Seuss."

"An experience that's both grueling and, in its way, glorious."

"The daring, artistic brilliance of Dogville far outshines any negative interpretation we may have of the work. It's to be praised for inspiring varying interpretations and generating debate."

"This brilliantly acted film is a highly stylized, surprisingly successful experiment that sits somewhere between theater and cinema."

"Has rarely been far from my mind in the 10 months following Cannes, during which time it has grown only richer, deeper and more complex than I initially estimated."