The defence The Auteur Devotee
“Form is the argument.”
Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.
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Eyes Wide Shut
Drama · Thriller · Mystery · 1999
After Dr. Bill Harford's wife, Alice, admits to having sexual fantasies about a man she met, Bill becomes obsessed with having a sexual encounter. He discovers an underground sexual group and attends one of their meetings -- and quickly discovers that he is in over his head.
Movie details
Eyes Wide Shut
“No dream is ever just a dream.”
1999 Drama · Thriller · Mystery 2h 39m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.5 / 10
Community rating
After Dr. Bill Harford's wife, Alice, admits to having sexual fantasies about a man she met, Bill becomes obsessed with having a sexual encounter. He discovers an underground sexual group and attends one of their meetings -- and quickly discovers that he is 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 Eyes Wide Shut?
For the defence
The Auteur Devotee
“You watch the director, not the movie.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe 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.
Farewell, My Lovely
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Killer Joe
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A cop who moonlights as a hit man agrees to kill the hated mother of a desperate drug dealer in exchange for a tumble with the young man's virginal sister.
State of Grace
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Hell's Kitchen, New York. Terry Noonan returns home after a ten-year absence. He soon reconnects with Jackie, a childhood friend and member of the Irish mob, and rekindles his love affair with Jackie's sister Kathleen.
Marathon Man
Thriller · 1976
A graduate student and obsessive runner in New York is drawn into a mysterious plot involving his brother, a member of the secretive Division.
Swallow
Drama · 2020
Hunter, a newly pregnant housewife, finds herself increasingly compelled to consume dangerous objects. As her husband and his family tighten their control over her life, she must confront the dark secret behind her new obsession.
Crash
Thriller · 1996
A car crash victim inexplicably finds himself aroused by car accidents and becomes involved with an underground subculture of like-minded souls.
Fight Club
Drama · 1999
A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.
Too Late
Drama · 2016
Private investigator Mel Sampson is tasked with tracking down the whereabouts of a missing woman from his own past.
The Ghoul
Drama · 2017
A homicide detective goes undercover as a patient to investigate a psychotherapist he believes is linked to a strange double murder. As his therapy sessions continue the line between fantasy and reality begins to blur.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Stanley Kubrick
Written by
Frederic Raphael · Stanley Kubrick
Tom Cruise
Dr. William Harford
Nicole Kidman
Alice Harford
Sydney Pollack
Victor Ziegler
Marie Richardson
Marion
Rade Šerbedžija
Milich
Todd Field
Nick Nightingale
Vinessa Shaw
Domino
Court is in session
Put Eyes Wide Shut on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
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.