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Nell

Nell

Drama · Thriller · 1994

In a remote woodland cabin, a small town doctor discovers Nell — a beautiful young hermit woman with many secrets.

Movie details

Nell

“Her heart. Her soul. Her language are a mystery... A mystery called Nell”

1994 Drama · Thriller 1h 52m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.5 / 10

32.1K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

60 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

60 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.5 / 10

Community rating

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

In a remote woodland cabin, a small town doctor discovers Nell — a beautiful young hermit woman with many secrets.

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 Nell?

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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Remember

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Kes

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Michael Apted

Written by

Mark Handley · William Nicholson

Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster

Nell Kellty

Liam Neeson

Liam Neeson

Dr. Lovell

Natasha Richardson

Natasha Richardson

Dr. Paula Olsen

Richard Libertini

Richard Libertini

Dr. Paley

Robin Mullins

Robin Mullins

Mary Peterson

Nick Searcy

Nick Searcy

Sheriff Todd Peterson

Jeremy Davies

Jeremy Davies

Billy Fisher

Court is in session

Put Nell on trial.

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

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“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.