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The Mosquito Coast

The Mosquito Coast

Drama · Adventure · 1986

An inventor spurns his city life and moves his family into the jungles of Central America to make a utopia.

Movie details

The Mosquito Coast

“He never bargained for what he found.”

1986 Drama · Adventure 1h 59m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

An inventor spurns his city life and moves his family into the jungles of Central America to make a utopia.

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 Mosquito Coast?

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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Gold

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The Mission

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Snow White and the Huntsman

Snow White and the Huntsman

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After the Evil Queen marries the King, she performs a violent coup in which the King is murdered and his daughter, Snow White, is taken captive. Almost a decade later, a grown Snow White is still in the clutches of the Queen. In order to obtain immortality, The Evil Queen needs the heart of Snow White. After Snow escapes the castle, the Queen sends the Huntsman to find her in the Dark Forest.

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Northfork

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The year is 1955, and a great flood is coming to Northfork, Montana. A new hydroelectric dam is about to be installed in the mountains above the town, ready to submerge the valley in the name of progress. It is the responsibility of a six-man Evacuation Committee to relocate the townsfolk to higher ground. Most have duly departed, but a few stubborn stragglers remain – among them a priest caring for a sickly orphan, a boy whose fevered visions are leading him to believe he is a member of a roaming band of lost angels desperately searching for a way home.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Peter Weir

Written by

Paul Schrader

Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford

Allie Fox

Helen Mirren

Helen Mirren

Mother Fox

River Phoenix

River Phoenix

Charlie Fox

Jadrien Steele

Jadrien Steele

Jerry Fox

Hilary Gordon

Hilary Gordon

April Fox

Rebecca Gordon

Rebecca Gordon

Clover Fox

Jason Alexander

Jason Alexander

Hardware Clerk

Court is in session

Put The Mosquito Coast on trial.

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

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.