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The Postman Always Rings Twice

The Postman Always Rings Twice

Drama · Romance · Crime · 1946

A married woman and a drifter fall in love, then plot to murder her husband.

Movie details

The Postman Always Rings Twice

“Their Love was a Flame that Destroyed!”

1946 Drama · Romance · Crime 1h 53m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.1 / 10

Community rating

A married woman and a drifter fall in love, then plot to murder her husband.

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 Postman Always Rings Twice?

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 Last Seduction

The Last Seduction

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A devious femme fatale steals her husband’s drug money and hides out in a small town where she meets the perfect dupe for her next scheme.

The Postman Always Rings Twice

The Postman Always Rings Twice

Crime · 1981

The sensuous wife of a lunch wagon proprietor and a rootless drifter begin a sordidly steamy affair and conspire to murder her Greek husband.

Adulterers

Adulterers

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On a steamy New Orleans afternoon, Sam Deuprey decides to surprise his beautiful wife, Ashley, for their anniversary and comes home early. But Ashley is not alone in the bedroom. She and her lover, Damien are about to learn how far a jealous husband will go.

Careful What You Wish For

Careful What You Wish For

Drama · 2015

A guy gets more than he bargained for after entering into an affair with the wife of an investment banker. Soon, a suspicious death and substantial life insurance policy embroil him in a scandal.

Unfaithful

Unfaithful

Thriller · 2002

A New York suburban couple's marriage goes dangerously awry when the wife indulges in an adulterous fling.

In Secret

In Secret

Drama · 2014

In 1860s Paris, a young woman, Therese, is trapped in a loveless marriage to the sickly Camille by her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin. She spends her days behind the counter of a small shop and her evenings watching Madame play dominos with an eclectic group. After she meets her husband’s alluring friend, Laurent, she embarks on an illicit affair that leads to tragic consequences. Based on Emile Zola’s novel, Thérèse Raquin.

Addicted

Addicted

Drama · 2014

A gallerist risks her family and flourishing career when she enters into an affair with a talented painter and slowly loses control of her life.

The Killing

The Killing

Crime · 1956

Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.

Gone Girl

Gone Girl

Mystery · 2014

With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.

Nightmare Alley

Nightmare Alley

Crime · 2021

An ambitious carnival man with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a female psychologist who is even more dangerous than he is.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Tay Garnett

Written by

Harry Ruskin · Niven Busch

John Garfield

John Garfield

Frank Chambers

Lana Turner

Lana Turner

Cora Smith

Cecil Kellaway

Cecil Kellaway

Nick Smith

Hume Cronyn

Hume Cronyn

Arthur Keats

Leon Ames

Leon Ames

Kyle Sackett

Audrey Totter

Audrey Totter

Madge Gorland

Alan Reed

Alan Reed

Ezra Liam Kennedy

Court is in session

Put The Postman Always Rings Twice 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.