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Wilde

Wilde

Drama · History · 1997

Oscar Wilde is a married playwright who has occasionally indulged his weakness for male suitors. After much toil, Wilde debuts 'The Importance of Being Earnest' in London, and a chat at the theatre with Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas leads to a full-fledged romance. However, this affair leads to a legal dispute with Lord Alfred's oppressive father, the Marquess of Queensberry, and, given the local anti-gay laws, Wilde is jailed. Wilde's vast intellect helps him survive until he regains his freedom.

Movie details

Wilde

“Loved for being unique. Hated for being different.”

1997 Drama · History 1h 58m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.9 / 10

18.8K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

72 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

70 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.6 / 10

Community rating

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

Oscar Wilde is a married playwright who has occasionally indulged his weakness for male suitors. After much toil, Wilde debuts 'The Importance of Being Earnest' in London, and a chat at the theatre with Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas leads to a full-fledged romance. However, this affair leads to a legal dispute with Lord Alfred's oppressive father, the Marquess of Queensberry, and, given the local anti-gay laws, Wilde is jailed. Wilde's vast intellect helps him survive until he regains his freedom.

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 Wilde?

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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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Brian Gilbert

Written by

Julian Mitchell

Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry

Oscar Wilde

Jude Law

Jude Law

Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas

Vanessa Redgrave

Vanessa Redgrave

Lady Speranza Wilde

Jennifer Ehle

Jennifer Ehle

Constance Lloyd Wilde

Gemma Jones

Gemma Jones

Lady Queensberry

Judy Parfitt

Judy Parfitt

Lady Mount-Temple

Michael Sheen

Michael Sheen

Robbie Ross

Court is in session

Put Wilde on trial.

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

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.