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King Cobra

King Cobra

Crime · Drama · 2016

It’s 2006, YouTube is in its infancy, and internet porn is still behind a paywall. Taking the stage name Brent Corrigan, a fresh-faced, wannabe adult video performer is molded into a star by Stephen, a closeted gay porn mogul who runs the skin flick empire Cobra Video from his seemingly ordinary suburban home.

Movie details

King Cobra

“Sex is not a game, it's business.”

2016 Crime · Drama 1h 33m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

5.6 / 10

9.8K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

50 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

48 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

5.9 / 10

Community rating

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

It’s 2006, YouTube is in its infancy, and internet porn is still behind a paywall. Taking the stage name Brent Corrigan, a fresh-faced, wannabe adult video performer is molded into a star by Stephen, a closeted gay porn mogul who runs the skin flick empire Cobra Video from his seemingly ordinary suburban home.

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 King Cobra?

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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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Justin Kelly

Written by

Justin Kelly

Garrett Clayton

Garrett Clayton

Sean Paul Lockhart / Brent Corrigan

Christian Slater

Christian Slater

Stephen (Bryan Kocis)

Keegan Allen

Keegan Allen

Harlow Cuadra

James Franco

James Franco

Joe Kerekes

Alicia Silverstone

Alicia Silverstone

Janette

Molly Ringwald

Molly Ringwald

Amy

Spencer Rocco Lofranco

Spencer Rocco Lofranco

Mikey

Court is in session

Put King Cobra on trial.

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

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.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.