Back to trending
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

Comedy · Drama · 1991

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, minor characters from the play 'Hamlet', find themselves on the road to Elsinore Castle at the behest of the King of Denmark. The duo encounter a band of players before arriving to find that they are needed to try to discern what troubles the prince Hamlet. Meanwhile, they ponder the meaning of their existence.

Movie details

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

“A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself.”

1991 Comedy · Drama 1h 57m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, minor characters from the play 'Hamlet', find themselves on the road to Elsinore Castle at the behest of the King of Denmark. The duo encounter a band of players before arriving to find that they are needed to try to discern what troubles the prince Hamlet. Meanwhile, they ponder the meaning of their existence.

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 Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead?

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.

Educating Rita

Educating Rita

Drama · 1983

Rita, a witty 26-year-old hairdresser, wants to 'discover' herself, so she joins the Open University where she meets the disillusioned professor of literature, Dr. Frank Bryant. His marriage has failed, his new girlfriend is having an affair with his best friend and he can't get through the day without downing a bottle or two of whisky. What Frank needs is a challenge... and along comes Rita.

Benny & Joon

Benny & Joon

Comedy · 1993

A mentally ill young woman finds love with an eccentric man who models himself after Buster Keaton.

Carnage

Carnage

Comedy · 2011

Two pairs of parents hold a cordial meeting after their sons are involved in a fight, though as their time together progresses, increasingly childish behavior throws the discussion into chaos.

Come from Away

Come from Away

Comedy · 2021

Filmed live on Broadway, the Tony Award-winning musical tells the remarkable true story of 38 flights grounded in a small Canadian town on September 11, 2001. As the locals host these “come from aways,” they come together and find hope.

tick, tick... BOOM!

tick, tick... BOOM!

Drama · 2021

On the brink of turning 30, a promising theater composer navigates love, friendship and the pressure to create something great before time runs out.

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl

Comedy · 2024

On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family.

The Ruling Class

The Ruling Class

Comedy · 1972

When the Earl of Gurney dies in a cross-dressing accident, his schizophrenic son, Jack, inherits the Gurney estate. Jack is not the average nobleman; he sings and dances across the estate and thinks he is Jesus reincarnated. Believing that Jack is mentally unfit to own the estate, the Gurney family plots to steal Jack's inheritance. As their outrageous schemes fail, the family strives to cure Jack of his bizarre behavior, with disastrous results.

If I Stay

If I Stay

Drama · 2014

Mia Hall, a talented young cellist, thought the most difficult decision she would ever have to make would be whether to pursue her musical dreams at prestigious Juilliard or follow her heart to be with the love of her life, Adam, a rock singer/guitarist. However, a car wreck changes everything in an instant, and now Mia's life hangs in the balance. Suspended between life and death, Mia faces a choice that will decide her future.

Clouds

Clouds

Music · 2020

Young musician Zach Sobiech discovers his cancer has spread, leaving him just a few months to live. With limited time, he follows his dream and makes an album, unaware that it will soon be a viral music phenomenon.

King Lear

King Lear

Drama · 2018

An aging King invites disaster, when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Tom Stoppard

Written by

Tom Stoppard

Gary Oldman

Gary Oldman

Rosencrantz

Tim Roth

Tim Roth

Guildenstern

Richard Dreyfuss

Richard Dreyfuss

The Player

Iain Glen

Iain Glen

Hamlet

Ian Richardson

Ian Richardson

Polonius

Donald Sumpter

Donald Sumpter

Claudius

Joanna Miles

Joanna Miles

Gertrude

Court is in session

Put Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead on trial.

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

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

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

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

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