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The Snake Pit

The Snake Pit

Drama · Mystery · 1948

Virginia Cunningham is confused upon finding herself in a mental hospital, with no memory of her arrival at the institution. Tormented by delusions and unable to even recognize her husband, Robert, she is treated by Dr. Mark Kik, who is determined to get to the root of her mental illness. As her treatment progresses, flashbacks depict events in Virginia's life that may have contributed to her instability.

Movie details

The Snake Pit

“Married and in love... with a man she didn't know or want!”

1948 Drama · Mystery 1h 48m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.6 / 10

8.8K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

100 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

76 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

7.1 / 10

Community rating

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

Virginia Cunningham is confused upon finding herself in a mental hospital, with no memory of her arrival at the institution. Tormented by delusions and unable to even recognize her husband, Robert, she is treated by Dr. Mark Kik, who is determined to get to the root of her mental illness. As her treatment progresses, flashbacks depict events in Virginia's life that may have contributed to her instability.

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 Snake Pit?

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

Anatole Litvak

Written by

Frank Partos · Millen Brand

Olivia de Havilland

Olivia de Havilland

Virginia Cunningham

Mark Stevens

Mark Stevens

Robert Cunningham

Leo Genn

Leo Genn

Mark Kik

Celeste Holm

Celeste Holm

Grace

Glenn Langan

Glenn Langan

Dr. Terry

Helen Craig

Helen Craig

Nurse Davis

Leif Erickson

Leif Erickson

Gordon

Court is in session

Put The Snake Pit 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 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.