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The War Zone

The War Zone

Drama · 1999

An alienated teenager, saddened that he has moved away from London, must find a way to deal with a dark family secret.

Movie details

The War Zone

“When the worst of men hides in a family with no history.”

1999 Drama 1h 38m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

An alienated teenager, saddened that he has moved away from London, must find a way to deal with a dark family secret.

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 War Zone?

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.

Broken

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Two kids, Dylan and Kylie, run away from home on Christmas Day and spend a night of magic and terror on the streets of inner-city Dublin.

Bastard Out of Carolina

Bastard Out of Carolina

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A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.

Bird

Bird

Drama · 2024

12-year-old Bailey lives with her single dad Bug and brother Hunter in a squat in North Kent. Bug doesn’t have much time for his kids, and Bailey, who is approaching puberty, seeks attention and adventure elsewhere.

FX's A Christmas Carol

FX's A Christmas Carol

Drama · 2019

London, 1843. Ebenezer Scrooge, a bitter old man, despises the Christmas holiday. Over the course of Christmas Eve night he is visited by three ghosts to show him his past, present and future.

Strange Weather

Strange Weather

Drama · 2016

Years after her son's suicide, a woman longs to confront both the past and a friend of his who took his business idea.

A Thousand and One

A Thousand and One

Drama · 2023

Struggling but unapologetically living on her own terms, Inez is moving from shelter to shelter in mid-1990s New York City. With her 6-year-old son Terry in foster care and unable to leave him again, she kidnaps him so they can build their life together. As the years go by, their family grows and Terry becomes a smart yet quiet teenager, but the secret that has defined their lives threatens to destroy the home they have so improbably built.

Cass

Cass

Crime · 2008

The incredible true story of how an orphaned Jamaican baby, adopted by an elderly white couple and brought up in an all white area of London, became one of the most feared and respected men in Britain.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

Drama · 1946

Three childhood friends, Martha, Walter and Sam, share a terrible secret. Over time, the ambitious Martha and the pusillanimous Walter have married. She is a cold businesswoman; he is the district attorney: a perfect combination to dominate the corrupt city of Iverstown at will. But the unexpected return of Sam, after years of absence, deeply disturbs the life of the odd couple.

The Clovehitch Killer

The Clovehitch Killer

Drama · 2018

A picture-perfect family is torn apart after Tyler finds a cache of disturbing images in his father's possession. He begins to suspect that the man he trusts most in the world may be responsible for the murder of 13 women ten years prior.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Tim Roth

Written by

Alexander Stuart

Freddie Cunliffe

Freddie Cunliffe

Tom

Lara Belmont

Lara Belmont

Jessie

Ray Winstone

Ray Winstone

Dad

Tilda Swinton

Tilda Swinton

Mum

Kate Ashfield

Kate Ashfield

Lucy

Aisling O'Sullivan

Aisling O'Sullivan

Carol

M

Megan Thorp

Baby Alice

Court is in session

Put The War Zone on trial.

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

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.