The Imposter (2012) - Over-staged, incredible, unpleasant true-story of elaborate deceit

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The eerie, intriguing poster for Bart Layton's The Imposter

QUICK REVIEW:

The young teenage son of a Texan family, who vanished without a trace in 1994, suddenly appears 3 years later in Spain. The family invites him back home ... but it's not their son.

The Imposter is a British documentary by Bart Layton (Banged up Abroad (2006, TV documentary) that details a frightening and disturbing story. The film wants more to be a nail-biting thriller than a documentary and therefore spends quite a lot of time on some reconstructions that get to feel somewhat contrived. The careful staging of events and narrative in the film also happens at the expense of some of its credibility. The imposter, the film's main subject, French Frédéric Bourdin, addresses us in a highly animated style that made me believe for a long time that he was really an actor portraying the man instead of the man himself. Perhaps this confusion is a deliberate element on Layton's part, but I didn't find it to be necessary.
The 1st act of Imposter is a little long, but the story takes a scary turn, and it is told with an icy assuredness that is quite effective. With its added suspense music by Anne Nikitin (Chuck Norris vs. Communism (2015)), Imposter is an exciting portrait of a deeply troubling sociopath and a less than convincing American family.
- Beware, however: The Imposter is not exactly the kind of film that inspires great trust in your fellow man and woman!

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 2.9 mil. $
= Uncertainty
[Imposter played a row of festivals around the world, was nominated for 6 British Independent Film Awards and shortlisted for the Best Documentary Oscar category. In North America, it topped at 31 screens and grossed 0.8 mil. $ (27.6 % of the total gross). Its biggest market was its native UK with 1.8 mil. $ (62.1 %), and the 3rd biggest seems to have been New Zealand with 0.1 mil. $ (3.4 %). Whether its 2.9 mil. $ gross makes it a financial success is impossible to say without knowing its cost total. The Imposter is certified fresh at 95 % with an 8 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

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