Back to trending
Birthday Girl

Birthday Girl

Comedy · Crime · Thriller · 2001

John is a mild-mannered banker who has never been lucky in love. Fed up with waiting for the right girl to come along, John takes a chance on a Russian mail-order bride arranged via the Internet, where he is introduced to Nadia. John's fondness for Nadia grows... until the sudden arrival of Nadia's gregarious cousins makes John realize that he's in over his head.

Movie details

Birthday Girl

“Be careful what you wish for.”

2001 Comedy · Crime · Thriller 1h 33m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

5.9 / 10

Community rating

John is a mild-mannered banker who has never been lucky in love. Fed up with waiting for the right girl to come along, John takes a chance on a Russian mail-order bride arranged via the Internet, where he is introduced to Nadia. John's fondness for Nadia grows... until the sudden arrival of Nadia's gregarious cousins makes John realize that he's in over his head.

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 Birthday Girl?

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.

The Dream Team

The Dream Team

Comedy · 1989

Four mental patients on a field trip in New York City must save their caring chaperone, who ends up being taken to a hospital in a coma after accidentally witnessing a murder, before the killers can find him and finish the job.

Very Bad Things

Very Bad Things

Comedy · 1998

Kyle Fisher has one last night to celebrate life as a single man before marrying Laura, so he sets out to Vegas with four of his best buddies. But a drug and alcohol filled night on the town with a stripper who goes all the way, turns into a cold night in the desert with shovels when the stripper goes all the way into a body bag after dying in their bathroom. And that's just the first of the bodies to pile up before Kyle can walk down the aisle...

The International

The International

Action · 2009

An interpol agent and an attorney are determined to bring one of the world's most powerful banks to justice. Uncovering money laundering, arms trading, and conspiracy to destabilize world governments, their investigation takes them from Berlin, Milan, New York and Istanbul. Finding themselves in a chase across the globe, their relentless tenacity puts their own lives at risk.

White Elephant

White Elephant

Action · 2022

An ex-marine enforcer must battle his conscience and code of honor when he is forced to do things for the mob.

Night Train

Night Train

Action · 2023

Mother Holly McCord is driven to extremes to save the life of her young son. Even if it means hauling black market drugs in her souped-up truck, with the Feds in hot pursuit. With two bounties on her head and her son’s life on the line, Holly climbs behind the wheel of “Night Train,” ready to outrun, out gun, and outlast them all.

The Pickup

The Pickup

Action · 2025

A routine cash pickup takes a wild turn when mismatched armored truck drivers Russell and Travis are ambushed by ruthless criminals led by savvy mastermind Zoe.

God Is a Bullet

God Is a Bullet

Thriller · 2023

Vice detective Bob Hightower finds his ex-wife murdered and daughter kidnapped by a cult. Frustrated by the botched official investigations, he quits the force and infiltrates the cult to hunt down the leader with the help of the cult’s only female victim escapee, Case Hardin.

Shade

Shade

Action · 2003

Tiffany, Charlie and Vernon are con artists looking to up the ante from their typical scams. They figure a good way of doing this is taking down Dean "The Dean" Stevens, a well-known cardsharp, in a rigged game. However, they first need enough money to enter a game with Stevens, so they decide to strike a deal with fellow crook Larry Jennings to scam a local gangster -- which turns out to be a bad idea.

The Killer

The Killer

Action · 2024

Zee is a feared contract killer known as "the Queen of the Dead," but when she refuses to murder a young blind woman, she finds herself hunted both by criminal colleagues and a determined police detective.

Honest Thief

Honest Thief

Thriller · 2020

A bank robber tries to turn himself in because he's falling in love and wants to live an honest life...but when he realizes the Feds are more corrupt than him, he must fight back to clear his name.

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

Jez Butterworth

Written by

Jez Butterworth · Tom Butterworth

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman

Nadia / Sophia

Ben Chaplin

Ben Chaplin

John

Vincent Cassel

Vincent Cassel

Alexei

Mathieu Kassovitz

Mathieu Kassovitz

Yuri

K

Kate Lynn Evans

Clare

Stephen Mangan

Stephen Mangan

Bank Manager

Alexander Armstrong

Alexander Armstrong

Robert Mosley

Court is in session

Put Birthday Girl on trial.

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

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“It owes the canon nothing.”

The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.

The prosecution The Prestige Tourist

“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”

It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.