A refreshing horror experience from the director behind The Machinist and Transsiberian. Visually captivating and beautifully edited (they way the soundtrack, dialogue etc. melts into the images) with a steady performance from the great Peter Mullan.

Recommended to me as "trippy clever atmospheric psychological horror", something that should be right up my alley, this film was a huge disappointment. The script is nothing more than a a lukewarm, visionless rehash of other genuinely original surreal horror twists, and ultimately infuriating with the way it wastes a perfectly creepy and intriguing setting. David Caruso's presence certainly does not help one bit - come to think of it, the acting in this film is pretty mediocre on a whole.

Visually it's quite bland, and the pacing's a little slow, but the setting is great, the characters are memorable, and I honestly didn't expect the twist ending, probably because the film presents itself convincingly as a supernatural horror affair until the final act.

"One of the best horror films of 2001..."

It isn't scary (although one claustrophobic scene was surprisingly good compared to the dullness of everything before it) and the characters are boring. This was just an average movie that is watchable but nothing worth thinking about once it's done.

this is a weird movie. it seems to want to be about multiple personality disorder, but most of the plot and dialogue is about the dangers of being an asbestos worker. it's visually pretty nice, but the story is very dull, and seems to think it's smarter than it is.

this movie was great. psychological thriller in its purest form.

I'm not very much into horror movies but this delivers so much more than usual shaky cam and some desperate attempts to frighten you. The scenery is great from tension between characters and intelligent plot to the every last detail in directing and editing.

Not bad.

Either the plot was far too clever for me, or not nearly as clever as it needed to be. I'm strongly inclined to believe the latter, but the fact that there's still some doubt means that Session 9 succeeded at least in remaining interesting.

This movie was a great surprise - highly recommended.

An exercise in wasted opportunity. The script is dreadful: for the first 30 minutes, "EXPOSITION" ought to be flashing on the screen. The actors are subpar, though perhaps I should cut them some slack for having to work with such bad material. The real crime is the disappointing lack of suspense or dread. With a dilapidated insane asylum to work with, they had creepiness handed to them on the silver platter. It's a shame they didn't exploit it to its full potential.

There is the dreaded "twist", but I honestly can't even remember what it was. What I DO remember is how adeptly this film methodically built up a real sense of dread, until it became almost unbearable and you are just begging for some kind of release. And, because I'm required to do so, let me praise it's setting and atmosphere (they are quite good, I must say).

all i remember is it's not too hot, and since that's less than a decade ago, and i can remember intricate details of "the temple of doom", that means this movie is easily forgettable.

A slow-burn film remembering and cherishing the power of suspense.

Fantastic story, but a little slow

So bad that its actually funny. If it weren't so bad then I'd give it a 0

Rented it thinking it would be pretty bad but I can honestly say I was quite impressed with aspects of the film. The setting is fantastic, the overall mood of the film is more subtle than you have modern films (which I appreciate) and it relies on psychological scares rather than unrelenting gore for frights. David Caruso provides a good performance as well that I think is worthy of note. However, the film does have it's flaws (namely odd editing with screaming randomly throughout).

Session 9 has all the makings of something great behind it, it's just that its low budget and mix of good and average actors holds it back considerably. The story in and of itself is excellent and so is the great setting. A mental asylum with a rich history of the bizarre and a strong mix of characters keep it interesting, it's just never fully realized in the final product.

eerie but disappointing

Not without its flaws, but I enjoyed the fact that it's so much more than what it seems like on the surface. The film's location is incredible, and the lighting and direction are solid also.

Brilliant location. Less brilliant everything else.

Flawed in its production, but pitch-perfect in its atmosphere and plot development.