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The Accused

The Accused

Crime · Drama · 1988

Out drinking one night after a fight with her boyfriend, three men brutally rape Sarah Tobias in a bar while people watch and cheer. District Attorney Kathryn Murphy takes the case; however, she allows the rapists to receive a mild sentence. A distraught Sarah decides to seek punishment for the men who witnessed and encouraged the rape. To get justice, Sarah must take the stand and revisit the night of her attack.

Movie details

The Accused

“The first scream was for help. The second is for justice.”

1988 Crime · Drama 1h 51m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.1 / 10

42.9K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

93 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

65 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

7.1 / 10

Community rating

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

Out drinking one night after a fight with her boyfriend, three men brutally rape Sarah Tobias in a bar while people watch and cheer. District Attorney Kathryn Murphy takes the case; however, she allows the rapists to receive a mild sentence. A distraught Sarah decides to seek punishment for the men who witnessed and encouraged the rape. To get justice, Sarah must take the stand and revisit the night of her attack.

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 The Accused?

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.

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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

Jonathan Kaplan

Written by

Tom Topor

Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster

Sarah Tobias

Kelly McGillis

Kelly McGillis

Kathryn Murphy

Bernie Coulson

Bernie Coulson

Ken Joyce

Leo Rossi

Leo Rossi

Cliff 'Scorpion' Albrect

Ann Hearn

Ann Hearn

Sally Fraser

Carmen Argenziano

Carmen Argenziano

D.A. Paul Rudolph

Steve Antin

Steve Antin

Bob Joiner

Court is in session

Put The Accused 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.