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Happiness

Happiness

Comedy · Drama · 1998

The lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for human connection.

Movie details

Happiness

“You want. He wants. She wants. But nobody wants what I want.”

1998 Comedy · Drama 2h 20m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.7 / 10

78.7K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

84 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

81 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

7.4 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

The lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for human connection.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Happiness?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Shame

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Bully

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Where it lives

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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Todd Solondz

Written by

Todd Solondz

Jane Adams

Jane Adams

Joy Jordan

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Allen

Dylan Baker

Dylan Baker

Bill Maplewood

Lara Flynn Boyle

Lara Flynn Boyle

Helen Jordan

Cynthia Stevenson

Cynthia Stevenson

Trish Maplewood

Louise Lasser

Louise Lasser

Mona Jordan

Ben Gazzara

Ben Gazzara

Lenny Jordan

Court is in session

Put Happiness on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.