MOVIEmeter
Top 5000
Up 150 this week

The Imposter (2012)

7.5
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.5/10 from 12,319 users   Metascore: 77/100
Reviews: 43 user | 175 critic | 27 from Metacritic.com

A documentary centered on a young Frenchman who claims to a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for 3 years.

Director:

Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 2380 titles created 5 months ago
 
a list of 10000 titles created 3 months ago
 
a list of 44 titles created 1 week ago
 
a list of 184 titles created 12 Feb 2012
 
a list of 17 titles created 20 Jan 2012
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: The Imposter (2012)

The Imposter (2012) on IMDb 7.5/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of The Imposter.
Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 10 wins & 14 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Documentary | Biography | Music
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock 'n' roller, Rodriguez.

Director: Malik Bendjelloul
Stars: Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman, Dennis Coffey, Mike Theodore
Side by Side (2012)
Documentary
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

The documentary investigates the history, process and workflow of both digital and photochemical film creation.

Director: Christopher Kenneally
Stars: Derek Ambrosi, Michael Ballhaus, Andrzej Bartkowiak
Documentary
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

A documentary that follows a billionaire couple as they begin construction on a mansion inspired by Versailles. During the next two years, their empire, fueled by the real estate bubble and cheap money, falters due to the economic crisis.

Director: Lauren Greenfield
Stars: Virginia Nebab, David Siegel, Jaqueline Siegel
The Cove (2009)
Documentary | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.4/10 X  

Using state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health.

Director: Louie Psihoyos
Stars: Richard O'Barry, Louie Psihoyos, Hardy Jones
Documentary
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

A documentary on 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, his business in the basement of a Tokyo office building, and his relationship with his son and eventual heir, Yoshikazu.

Director: David Gelb
Stars: Masuhiro Yamamoto, Daisuke Nakazama, Hachiro Mizutani
Project Nim (2011)
Documentary
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

Tells the story of a chimpanzee taken from its mother at birth and raised like a human child by a family in a brownstone on the upper West Side in the 1970s.

Director: James Marsh
Stars: Nim Chimpsky, Stephanie LaFarge, Herbert Terrace
Inside Job (2010)
Documentary | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.2/10 X  

Takes a closer look at what brought about the financial meltdown.

Director: Charles Ferguson
Stars: Matt Damon, William Ackman, Daniel Alpert
Catfish (2010)
Documentary
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

Young filmmakers document their colleague's budding online friendship with a young woman and her family which leads to an unexpected series of discoveries.

Directors: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Stars: Yaniv Schulman, Ariel Schulman, Henry Joost
Documentary
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

A documentary that follows the journeys of indie game developers as they create games and release those works, and themselves, to the world.

Directors: Lisanne Pajot, James Swirsky
Stars: Jonathan Blow, Phil Fish, Edmund McMillen
Documentary
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

Kirby Dick's exposé about the American movie ratings board.

Director: Kirby Dick
Stars: Kimberly Peirce, Kirby Dick, Darren Aronofsky
Food, Inc. (2008)
Documentary
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

An unflattering look inside America's corporate controlled food industry.

Director: Robert Kenner
Stars: Eric Schlosser, Richard Lobb, Vince Edwards
Documentary
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

An examination of a failure of justice in the case against the West Memphis Three.

Director: Amy Berg
Stars: Michael Baden, Jason Baldwin, Damien Wayne Echols
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
Frédéric Bourdin
...
Carey Gibson
Cathy Dresbach ...
Nancy Fisher
Alan Teichman ...
Charlie Parker
Ivan Villanueva ...
Social Worker
Maria Jesus Hoyos ...
Judge
Anton Marti ...
Male Police Officer
Amparo Fontanet ...
Female Police Officer
...
Vice Consul
Carey Gibson ...
Herself
Bryan Gibson ...
Himself
Beverly Dollarhide ...
Herself
Frédéric Bourdin ...
Himself (as Frederic Bourdin)
Nancy Fisher ...
Herself (as Nancy B. Fisher)
Phillip French ...
Himself
Edit

Storyline

A documentary centered on a young Frenchman who claims to a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for 3 years.

Add Full Plot | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

There are two sides to every lie.


Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Official Sites:

|

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

24 August 2012 (UK)  »

Also Known As:

Der Blender - The Imposter  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$22,379 (USA) (13 July 2012)

Gross:

$892,409 (USA) (21 November 2012)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Goofs

At the beginning of the film, Frédéric Bourdin's hair line is very defined and has dark hair. But by the end of the film he has a noticeable receding hairline. However, the film portrays his talking scenes as one long interview as his shirt never changes. See more »

Soundtracks

"Listen to the Music"
Written by Tom Johnston
Performed by The Doobie Brothers
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

 
Review
10 September 2012 | by (United Kingdom) – See all my reviews

On June, 13, 1994, Nicolas Barclay went missing. Last seen playing basketball with his friends in San Antonio, Texas. There was no word of his whereabouts for days, weeks, months, years until it was assumed he would be missing forever, the search having long since died out. Then the incredible happened. He was discovered in Linares, Spain.

Or was he? The Nicolas that went missing 3 years earlier had had blue eyes not brown and the new Nicolas had a french accent? This new Nicolas was actually Frederic Bourdin a 22 year old French-Algerian, with an addiction to and talent for deceit and fraud. Nevertheless he managed to fool the Barclay family, US embassy officials, the FBI and most of America, if not the world, into believing that he was indeed Nicolas Barclay. But one man had his doubts. A charismatic Texan private eye, Charlie Parker, originally hired to track down Nicolas for an interview with a local media company, noticed an irregularity between the two Nicolas's ears, which eventually lead to Frederic's discovery and arrest.

This captivating and chilling story is beautifully explored by the director Bart Layton. He blurs the boundaries between a documentary and blockbuster. Even though Layton allows you to be aware that Frederic is not the real Nicholas Barclay from the outset, he teasingly feeds you fragments of the story piece by piece from the perspectives of the family members, the officials and Frederic himself. The product is a gripping thriller, heightened by the knowledge that it is a true story and by the mesmerising stylised cinematography, including some eery moving portraits of the family members accepting an obvious stranger into their home. This is just one of the many striking images in this film that will stay with me for a long time.

Provoking questions about identity, human nature, society and national security, the Imposter our keeps you eager with anticipation while you bathe in the beauty of the images crafted by Layton. It's a brilliant film - one of the best thrillers, let alone documentaries, I have seen.


15 of 18 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
suggest similar docs to The Imposter here updownleftright
Not so much about the movie, but about the actual events... trippingbomb
Did the IMDb summary just spoil the whole film? ProfoundWhatever
Ruin it for me. mrspotswood
Where is this playing? markkr64
Is there a book about this? cweins
Discuss The Imposter (2012) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?