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Rowan McNamara, Marissa Gibson, Mitjili Napanangka Gibson, Scott Thornton

Two teenagers find love and look for a place where they can be together in peace in this comedy drama from Australia. Samson (Rowan McNamara) is 15 years old and lives in a shabby town in the outback,... read more read more... where he huffs gasoline to get high, hangs out with his friends, and spends his days goofing off and getting into minor trouble. One day, Samson meets Delilah (Marissa Gibson) at the village market, a girl who follows a different path in life -- she looks after her elderly grandmother (Mitjili Gibson), and helps her create paintings that they sell to tourists to support themselves. While Delilah doesn't have much to say to Samson at first, he's immediately taken with her and shows his affection with a graffiti painting. While she's not willing to admit it at first, Delilah has feelings for him as well, and when her grandmother encourages her to follow her heart, the two begin dating. But life is difficult on the outback, and when they both become victims of violence, Samson and Delilah hit the road and begin looking for a town where they can lead a better life. The first feature film from writer and director Warwick Thornton, Samson & Delilah was an official selection at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened as part of the "Un Certain Regard" program. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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74% liked it

8,084 ratings

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96% liked it

46 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 41 min.

Directed by: Warwick Thornton

Release Date: October 15, 2010

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DVD Release Date: January 11, 2011

Stats: 320 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (320)

  • blacksheepboy
    May 31, 2010
    blacksheepboy
    A beautiful, wrenching portrait of a reality that is so little known to non-Australians, reaching us through an Aboriginal love story that relies on two amazing performances, and smoothly moving from tender to heartbreaking moments.
  • deano
    May 10, 2010
    deano
    Warwick Thornton's astounding, gruelling and rewarding movie - which he shot, as well as wrote and directed - puts us in the place of Australia's most dispossessed and forgotten people.
    Samson and Delilah is hard viewing and unsparing almost to the last. Even then the rede... read moremption it offers is perhaps ephemeral. But this wrenching film is also a tender, realistic love story and a lyrical piece of visual art. It unfolds mostly without dialogue, depending on the remarkable natural expressiveness of its untrained leads Rowan McNamara and Marissa Gibson, whose relationship play out as childish love-hate flirtation before they cling together in desperation and finally sink into the miasma of fumes that seems to offer escape from violence, homelessness and the sheer loneliness of being two lost kids on the face of a parched, uncaring planet.
  • shortcartoonist
    December 6, 2009
    shortcartoonist
    Raw, intense, and yet beautifully poetic. The quiet Samson and Delilah is a film of visual majesty and storytelling through gestures; it's dialogue means little, but it's pictures mean everything. The film is a rumination on lost youth in a degrading community, and the clear diff... read moreerences in race and culture that unfortunately still exist.
  • smith44
    June 29, 2009
    smith44
    Probably one of the best Australian film ever, certainly one of its most powerful, dealing with the nation's elephant in the room, the indigenous Australians. A harrowingly confronting film about youth, indigenous culture, disadvantage and poverty ultimately turns into a subtle b... read moreut extremely moving love story. A quietly beautiful film that gets under your skin and shakes you too your core. Particularly powerful from an Australian perspective the film looks hard at a shameful fact of Australian society, without moralizing or pointing blame, the film transcends the subject matter and creates a powerful love story. But be prepared for its slow style and its ability to emotionally drain you.
  • gator681
    January 21, 2012
    gator681
    There is little for Samson(Rowan McNamara) to do during the day, except listen to his brother's band practice. One day, he catches sight of Delilah(Marissa Gibson) who spends her days working on native artwork with her grandmother(Mitjili Gibson) that they sell and taking her to... read more the local clinic for regular visits. She takes pity on him and buys him a snack at the store. In return, he kills a kangaroo and brings it back to her place to eat for dinner.(Oh, but it's so cute!) He then brings his bedroll over to stay. All of which the old woman finds amusing.

    Even with mild reservations about the ending, "Samson and Delilah" is a well-filmed and heartbreaking love story that also has much to say about the tragic state of the Aboriginal population in Australia, living lives of frustration with little opportunity at a better life.(To make matters worse, the only radio station they can get in their outback village is country western.) Thankfully, none of this is presented in a strident manner, as the arguments are presented subtly with little dialogue, almost as if their language, along with their culture, had been appropriated by the Europeans which finds them largely invisible.
  • lesleyanorton
    August 10, 2010
    lesleyanorton
    Drama by Warwick Thornton, Aboriginal writer and director about two Aboriginal teenagers trying to find a life amidst limited options, prejudice, brutality and misfortune.
    An unsentimental love story that's not at all dull and worthy like it sounds, largely due to the thin t... read morehread of optimism running through it and the lively, realistic acting of the two leads. Even if some of the plot and symbolism are a little heavy handed, it still feels you've been shown the truth.

    Recommended.
  • merlynsprankling
    March 31, 2010
    merlynsprankling
    This is a highly realistic story of two Australian Aboriginal teen-agers, Samson and Delilah.

    Filmed in Alice Springs, Warwick Thornton has drawn on personal experiences to create what is essentially a love story. Picturesque sunsets across wild plains and deserts are contras... read moreted with the ugly reality that is true for so many indigenous communities across Australia. Through Thornton's film, the audience is brought to a sympathetic view of the problems of physical abuse, substance abuse and poverty that attack the indigenous way of life by trying to modernise it.

    Adding to the film's authenticity, Thornton has developed the story using very little dialogue. Neither Samson and Delilah say one single word to each other throughout the 101 minutes of the film, and yet both Rowan Mcnamara (Samson) and Marissa Gibson (Delilah) show exceptional performances, given that they are untrained, raw talent.

    Surprisingly, the story lies in its reference to the biblical tale of Samson and Delilah, connecting a loss of strength with loss of hair. Yes, this is not an easy film to watch, yet this truly memorable film is unexpectedly comical, dramatic, romantic, and most of all, hope-inspiring.
  • robfearon
    May 15, 2009
    robfearon
    This astonishing, unworldly and brutally straightforward film has the capacity to challenge and change perceptions of what an Australian film can be.
  • alienmindtrick
    January 18, 2011
    alienmindtrick
    I've never loved a movie so much that had so little dialog, yet the story told here is more moving than words could convey. Rowan McNamara as Samson and Marissa Gibson as Delilah have been thrown away by everyone, even their own society. And as European descendants everywhere are... read more wont to do, the wealthier Australians shun them, avoiding eye contact and shooing them out of 'white only' places. Delilah attempts to sell an Aboriginal painting that she's learned from her grandmother, a woman whose work she has found at a local gallery selling for $22,000 Australian, but for which the dealer paid her a paltry $200. The dealer glanced at Delilah and declined to buy her painting, but you could see the reason writ clearly on his face - "I don't deal directly with the Untouchables".
    This story could be our American own, swapping African Americans or Native Americans for Aborigines. You want to reach out to Samson and Delilah, to feed them, clothe them, help them, or just to hear them speak. Their silence poses more profundity than their plaints, and those are rare and few.
    This is a heartbreaking tale because we know it too well, we Euro-trash progeny. We know it because we're guilty of it. We know it because we feel the guilt in our bones. We know it because the entire history of the supposition of "white supremacy" is right there in Samson and Delilah's eyes for all to see.
    I'm 'lucky' to be white, and the shame of it consumes me.

View All Samson and Delilah Reviews

Critic Reviews

Tom Long
February 25, 2011
Tom Long, Detroit News

This lovely, aching film opts for romance in the face of modern ruin. Full Review

Cliff Doerksen
January 4, 2011
Cliff Doerksen, Chicago Reader

This sterling 2009 debut by Warwick Thornton is harrowing and tragic but has a stoic, stately realism that elevates the material way above victim politics. Full Review

Michael O'Sullivan
November 19, 2010
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post

The film may be hard as hell to watch, but it's even harder to look away from. Full Review

Neil Genzlinger
October 15, 2010
Neil Genzlinger, New York Times

How do you know you're looking at a pretty good piece of filmmaking? When the director and actors can make you care about the central characters even though they exchange almost no dialogue. Full Review

Andrew Schenker
October 12, 2010
Andrew Schenker, Village Voice

The spiritual here is every bit as powerful as the physical. Full Review

Sarah Sluis
August 15, 2011
Sarah Sluis, Film Journal International

Spare and beautiful, Samson & Delilah gives viewers a peephole into two characters' struggle in a corner of the earth not visited enough on film. Full Review

Beth Accomando
December 10, 2010
Beth Accomando, KPBS.org

There's little dialogue in Samson and Delilah and the film has a gritty, sun-baked poeticism to it. Full Review

Chris Cabin
October 21, 2010
Chris Cabin, Filmcritic.com

Thornton's grip on familiar narrative tropes comes to more and more resemble a choke-hold up until the film's lovely final moments Full Review

Annlee Ellingson
October 19, 2010
Annlee Ellingson, Moving Pictures Magazine

Thornton isn't concerned about filling in the lines, requiring viewers to make the connections for themselves. The film is all the more engaging for it. Full Review

Avi Offer
October 18, 2010
Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru

A poetic, tender and unflinchingly real love story. Its powerful visuals, music and raw, captivating performances will leave you feeling deeply moved. Full Review

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Samson and Delilah Trivia

  • What legendary director links the films "Cleopatra", "The Ten Commandments", "The Greatest Show on Earth", "Madame Satan" and "Samson and Delilah"?  Answer »
  • Which film refers to Biblical woman character?  Answer »
  • What village was Samson from in Samson and Delilah ?  Answer »
  • How many years had Samsons people been in bondage in Samson And Delilah ?  Answer »
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