It was the talk of TIFF and now Playback‘s Director of the Year, David Cronenberg, is back in the spotlight as his latest film, A Dangerous Method, goes to wide release in Canada. Here, a selection of what the nation’s critics had to say:

The Globe and Mail: 4/4 stars

Reviewed by Rick Groen: “A Dangerous Method is a suave chamber piece: a series of glimpses of two 20th-century intellectual titans, in friendship and separation, and the story of a remarkable woman who history had swallowed up, brought into the light again.” (Read the full review here.)

The National Post: 2.5/4 stars

Reviewed by Chris Knight: “A Dangerous Method provides a window into minds trying to understand themselves, but the dry nature of the material may not be best suited to Cronenberg, who typically likes to dig his fingernails under the layers of meaning in his films. But it might also be the best we can do in 100 minutes. A topic as weighty as the birth of psychoanalysis surely needs more room to gestate, just as a method known as the talking cure requires more talk.” (Read the whole review here.)

The Toronto Star: 3/4 stars

Reviewed by Peter Howell: “A Dangerous Method promises the body, but delivers the mind. In this sense, it may be the most perverse David Cronenberg film yet. It has the surface elements of Cronenbergian kink: beautiful people giving free rein to their darkest sexual impulses, both in the name of science and the libido.” (Read the whole review here.)

Straight.com (Vancouver): not rated

Reviewed by Ken Eisner:”[Cronenberg’s] Method probably could have used a little more madness and a little less talk, but it’s a provocative, well-considered tonic and he deserves kudos for restoring Spielrein—and a woman’s voice—to the historical equation.” (Read the full review here.)

CBC.ca: 2.5/4 stars

Reviewed by Eli Glasner: “No director should be ever placed in a box, so while it’s great to see Cronenberg continue to stretch as a filmmaker, A Dangerous Method is a difficult film to recommend to any but most ardent fan of mental mind games.” (Read the full review here.)