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The Believer
2001 98 min United States of America R 16+
★7.3
Drama
Director: Henry Bean
Trailers
Description
A hardcore US racist skinhead who, because of his intelligence, leads a gang dedicated to fighting the enemy: the supposed American-Jewish conspiracy for domination. However, he's hiding a secret: he's Jewish-born, a brilliant scholar whose questioning of the tenets of his faith has left him angry and confused, turning against those who he thinks have a tragic history of their own making.
Budget:
$1.5M
US Gross:
$416,925
Worldwide:
$1.31M
Starring
Ryan Gosling
Actor
Summer Phoenix
Actor
Peter Meadows
Actor
Awards
Moscow International Film Festival 2001
— Golden Saint George – Best Film
Moscow International Film Festival 2001
— Russian Film Clubs Federation Prize
Sundance Film Festival 2001
— Grand Jury Prize (Drama)
European Film Awards 2001
— Screen International Award
Key opinion
The Believer is widely recognized as a bold and provocative character study, anchored by a transformative performance from Ryan Gosling. While the film is praised for its refusal to moralize, its narrative structure and technical production quality remain subjects of debate.
| Acting | Ryan Gosling's debut performance as Danny Balint is a masterful, raw portrayal that anchors the film and effectively conveys the character's profound inner contradictions. | |
| Theme | The film successfully avoids didactic moralizing, instead forcing viewers to confront uncomfortable themes of self-hatred and religious identity on their own terms. | |
| Screenplay | The screenplay features strong, memorable, and thought-provoking dialogue that articulates the protagonist’s paradoxical worldview, even when the broader narrative logic falters. | |
| Pacing | The narrative structure receives mixed reactions; some viewers find the character's transformation powerful, while others feel the plot is disjointed, incoherent, or lacks a clear motivational trajectory. | |
| Production | Production quality is polarizing; proponents highlight the film's gritty authenticity, while critics point to low-budget aesthetics, messy editing, and distracting technical shortcomings. |