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Paperhouse

Paperhouse

Drama · Fantasy · 1988

A young girl lost in the loneliness and boredom of reality finds solace in an ill boy, whom she can visit in a surreal dream world that she drew in her school composition book.

Movie details

Paperhouse

“A drawing that became a dream. A dream that became reality.”

1988 Drama · Fantasy 1h 32m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.5 / 10

Community rating

A young girl lost in the loneliness and boredom of reality finds solace in an ill boy, whom she can visit in a surreal dream world that she drew in her school composition book.

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 Paperhouse?

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

Bernard Rose

Written by

Matthew Jacobs

Charlotte Burke

Charlotte Burke

Anna Madden

E

Elliott Spiers

Marc

Glenne Headly

Glenne Headly

Kate Madden

Gemma Jones

Gemma Jones

Dr. Sarah Nicols

Ben Cross

Ben Cross

Dad

Jane Bertish

Jane Bertish

Miss Vanstone

S

Sarah Newbold

Karen

Court is in session

Put Paperhouse on trial.

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

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.