SummaryA Scotland Yard undercover detective is on the trail of a saboteur who is part of a plot to set off a bomb in London. But when the detective's cover is blown, the plot begins to unravel.
Directed By:Alfred Hitchcock
Written By:Joseph Conrad, Charles Bennett, Ian Hay, Helen Simpson, E.V.H. Emmett
Sabotage
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
85
User score
Generally Favorable
6.6
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
85
89% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
11% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
A commercially compromised but often brilliant updating of Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent. [27 Sep 2013, p.C6]
100
Hitchcock thought that he erred in this one, and that that explained why the picture wasn't a hit. But he was wrong; this adaptation of Conrad's The Secret Agent may be just about the best of his English thrillers, and if the public didn't respond it wasn't his fault.
90
Freely adapted from Conrad's The Secret Agent, this 1936 study of murderous intimacy is ripe for reevaluation as the masterpiece of Alfred Hitchcock's British period.
80
The narrative's a bit perfunctory, but is neatly overbalanced by the joyously rule-breaking sequence of a boy, a bus and a time bomb.
80
A masterly exercise in suspense. His new film is imperfect narrative, but perfect dramaturgy.
70
Competent and experienced hand of the director is apparent throughout this production, which is a smart one and executed in a business-like manner from start to finish.
58
A disappointment, certainly, but not one without its pleasures.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.6
56% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
28% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
17% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
Nov 14, 2023
7
One of Hitchcock's darker early films, with incredible performances all around. Sylvia Sydney is simply a marvel, making every scene she is absolutely absorbing. Oscar Homolka is also wonderful, as usual, albeit slightly under developed in his characterization and behaviors towards the end. The film is still a treat, with Hitchcock's stylistic flares sprinkled throughout, including perfectly executed humor and suspense. It is simply a harder watch due to the murkier elements that unravel in the plot. But all in all, a great earlier Hitchcock entry.
Feb 28, 2025
6
Es una película que, realmente, a nivel de guion no es sobresaliente, ni tampoco es muy buena, se queda un poco en el limbo por dos cuestiones principales. La primera, que es bastante negativa, es que las formas de presentar al detective y cómo se siente atraído por la protagonista están bastante mal escritas, son inverosímiles. Y al final, después de lo sucedido con el hermano de la protagonista, termina un poco de forma abrupta, sin demasiado sentido realmente. Por otro lado, como algo positivo, está lo sucedido en la escena en que el hermano de la protagonista está llevando unas películas. Todo ese trayecto hasta el desenlace de esa escena es totalmente arte, tal vez de cierta forma algo predecible, pero es sin duda impactante, una escena de las mejores del cine hasta ese momento. El problema es que son 10 minutos en un largometraje, en una base que es mucho más larga que eso. Algo decepcionado de Hitchcock porque mejoró en ciertas cosas, pero empeoró en muchas otras.
