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The Crying Game

The Crying Game

Crime · Drama · Thriller · 1992

Irish Republican Army member Fergus forms an unexpected bond with Jody, a kidnapped British soldier in his custody, despite the warnings of fellow IRA members Jude and Maguire. Jody makes Fergus promise he'll visit his girlfriend, Dil, in London, and when Fergus flees to the city, he seeks her out. Hounded by his former IRA colleagues, he finds himself increasingly drawn to the enigmatic, and surprising, Dil.

Movie details

The Crying Game

“...play it at your own risk.”

1992 Crime · Drama · Thriller 1h 52m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.2 / 10

62.9K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

95 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

90 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

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

Irish Republican Army member Fergus forms an unexpected bond with Jody, a kidnapped British soldier in his custody, despite the warnings of fellow IRA members Jude and Maguire. Jody makes Fergus promise he'll visit his girlfriend, Dil, in London, and when Fergus flees to the city, he seeks her out. Hounded by his former IRA colleagues, he finds himself increasingly drawn to the enigmatic, and surprising, Dil.

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 Crying Game?

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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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Neil Jordan

Written by

Neil Jordan

Stephen Rea

Stephen Rea

Fergus

Miranda Richardson

Miranda Richardson

Jude

Jaye Davidson

Jaye Davidson

Dil

Forest Whitaker

Forest Whitaker

Jody

Adrian Dunbar

Adrian Dunbar

Maguire

Breffni McKenna

Breffni McKenna

Tinker

J

Joe Savino

Eddie

Court is in session

Put The Crying Game on trial.

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

The defence The Big-Idea Head

“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.