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Sling Blade

Sling Blade

Drama · 1996

Karl Childers, a mentally disabled man, has been in the custody of the state mental hospital since the age of 12 for killing his mother and her lover. Although thoroughly institutionalized, he is deemed fit to be released into the outside world.

Movie details

Sling Blade

“A simple man. A difficult choice.”

1996 Drama 2h 15m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

8.0 / 10

104.2K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

96 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

85 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

7.5 / 10

Community rating

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

Karl Childers, a mentally disabled man, has been in the custody of the state mental hospital since the age of 12 for killing his mother and her lover. Although thoroughly institutionalized, he is deemed fit to be released into the outside world.

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 Sling Blade?

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

Billy Bob Thornton

Written by

Billy Bob Thornton

Billy Bob Thornton

Billy Bob Thornton

Karl Childers

Dwight Yoakam

Dwight Yoakam

Doyle Hargraves

J.T. Walsh

J.T. Walsh

Charles Bushman

John Ritter

John Ritter

Vaughan Cunningham

Lucas Black

Lucas Black

Frank Wheatley

Natalie Canerday

Natalie Canerday

Linda Wheatley

James Hampton

James Hampton

Jerry Woolridge

Court is in session

Put Sling Blade 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.