'' Variety '' called the film a " forbidding and morbid piece of psycho-sadomasochism " with a " swimming-in-the-deep-end performance by Maria Bello that is the definition of fearless " . It also notes : Performances are cranked up to red-line neurotic levels , while production values intently contribute to creating an artificially bleak world where it 's understandable scarcely anyone would want to spend time , even for the duration of this movie . Salon.com , in a report about the films at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival , wrote : One film that will not be acquired by anybody at Sundance &ndash; I 'll just crawl out on a limb with this one &ndash; is '' Downloading Nancy '' ... Bello 's skin-peeling , ultra-depresso performance is wrenching and brave , calling for both emotional and physical nakedness . Can a film with those attributes also be insulting garbage ? It 's a difficult aesthetic-philosophical conundrum , but having sat through this damn thing I now have an answer . " I just had the experience of being there at the screening at Sundance and watching the door flap open and closed , " says Rufus Sewell , who plays Nancy 's husband Albert in the film . " I did n't expect so many people to walk out at Sundance . " Despite the controversy , Sewell continues to staunchly support the film . " I was delighted . ... I t 's a film I 'm very proud of , whether you consider that it fails or succeeds , whether you like it or do n't like it . I 'm proud to be in it . "
2008 Sundance Film Festival
2008 Sundance Film Festival
Downloading Nancy