--- title: "Decalogue V: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/decalogue-v/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/decalogue-v" critics_score: 69 critics_reviews: 12 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Decalogue V (1989): what the critics said Critics' score 69 from 12 reviews: 9 positive, 0 mixed, 3 negative. Most critics respond positively to Decalogue V, with praise clustering around its disturbing treatment of violence and refusal to make moral questions comfortable. The reviews repeatedly single out the fifth episode’s emotional force, although much of the strongest praise concerns the ten-part series’ moral complexity and depiction of loneliness rather than this film alone. Slant Magazine draws particular attention to the sickly yellow colour as part of the series’ expressive visual style. The scores span a wide range, but the written assessments reveal fewer clear disagreements than those numbers suggest. The New York Times offers the clearest objection, arguing that heavy-handed foreshadowing and simplistic characters weaken the case against capital punishment, while crediting the choice of an unsympathetic protagonist. Time Out, by contrast, finds the treatment unsettling without being preachy or reductive. The central divide concerns whether the film’s forcefulness sharpens its moral enquiry or makes it too blunt. ## The AV Club — Mike D'Angelo Rating A. 31 August 2016. The review calls the Dekalog a monumental work that holds up as both film and television. It highlights episode five for its nauseating juxtaposition of murder and state execution. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/call-it-television-or-call-it-cinema-dekalog-remains-mo-1798188737) ## Film Comment — Michael Wilmington Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 March 2000. The critic praises Kieslowski's Decalogue series as one of the great films of the century and an overwhelming psychological and spiritual epic. He singles out its clear-eyed confrontation with moral questions and the interconnected world it creates across episodes. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/long-days-journey-into-night/) ## IndieWire — David Ehrlich Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 31 August 2016. The critic hails the restored Dekalog as essential viewing and one of the greatest achievements in cinema. He singles out its profound exploration of human morality across the episodes. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/dekalog-review-kieslowski-criterion-collection-1201721861/) ## Slant Magazine Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 25 September 2016. The review praises the Criterion restoration of the Dekalog as the release of the year for its visual and thematic depth. It notes episode five's sickly yellow color timing as part of the series' expressionistic realism. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/dekalog-bd/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 8 September 2016. The review celebrates the Dekalog series as one of the greatest overlooked works and highlights episode five as featuring one of the screen's most graphic killings while glossing on murder by individual and state. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-dekalog-review-20160902-snap-story.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 2 April 2000. The review praises the Decalogue series overall for its moral complexity and strong performances. It singles out episode five for its focus on an amoral murderer and a young lawyer opposing the death penalty. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-decalogue-1988) ## Time Out — WH Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. Kieślowski depicts two acts of slaughter—the unexplained killing of a taxi driver by a young man and the state's subsequent execution of him—both shown graphically and in real time, creating a deeply unsettling effect. The film explores humanity's inability to obey 'Thou shalt not kill' through a calm, heightened-realist style without preaching or simplification. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/dekalog-5-thou-shalt-not-kill) ## Empire — David Parkinson Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic describes the film as the fifth episode from Kieślowski's Dekalog series, expanded for cinema, focusing on the origins of evil in late-communist Poland rather than a direct polemic against capital punishment. They single out the harrowing, extended murder and execution scenes as leaving an indelible impression of emptiness and despair. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/short-film-killing-review/) ## The New York Times — Caryn James Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 23 December 1995. The review finds the film weakens its anti-capital punishment argument through heavy-handed foreshadowing and simplistic characters. It praises the director's daring in centering the story on an unsympathetic protagonist. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/23/movies/film-review-a-case-against-capital-punishment.html) ## Variety Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 1989. The review describes the ten films as modern moral stories that point out the fallacy of justice in episode five. It notes the series shows human frailty with sympathy but little hope. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1988/film/reviews/dekalog-1200428013/) ## The Playlist — Andrew Crump Rating A. 30 August 2016. The critic calls Kieślowski’s Dekalog an epic masterwork of morality and human experience, authentic in its portrayal of 1980s Poland and universal loneliness. He singles out the series’ intricate storytelling and thematic depth drawn from the Commandments, including the execution in Dekalog: Five. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/krzysztof-kieslowskis-dekalog-masterwork-morality-chance-fate-review-20160830/) ## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 31 August 2002. The critic praises Dekalog as the finest example of filmmaking in the last three decades for its intellectual purity and honest depiction of love, rejection, fear, loneliness and sudden death. He singles out the emotional intensity and lack of easy answers or sentimentality across the ten films, including the senseless murder and retribution in one episode. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/dekalog-the-ten-commandments-parts-1-5-and-parts-6-10-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/decalogue-v.md