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The Chamber

The Chamber

Crime · Drama · 1996

Idealistic young attorney Adam Hall takes on the death row clemency case of his racist grandfather, Sam Cayhall, a former Ku Klux Klan member he has never met.

Movie details

The Chamber

“Time is running out.”

1996 Crime · Drama 1h 53m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.0 / 10

Community rating

Idealistic young attorney Adam Hall takes on the death row clemency case of his racist grandfather, Sam Cayhall, a former Ku Klux Klan member he has never met.

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 Chamber?

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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Long separated from his family, hitman Joshua returns to Brighton Beach for a contract killing for the Russian Mafia. His abusive father, Arkady, banned him from returning after Joshua committed his first murder. He takes up residence in a hotel, and soon everyone knows he has returned. He goes home to visit his dying mother, Irina, and prepares for the assassination, getting drawn back into the criminal community he left behind.

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Drama · 2018

Ku Klux Klansman Mike Burden opens the Redneck Shop and KKK museum in historic Laurens, SC. He subsequently falls in love with a single mother and, under her influence, quits the Klan and is taken in by an African American Reverend.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

James Foley

Written by

William Goldman · Phil Alden Robinson

Chris O'Donnell

Chris O'Donnell

Adam Hall

Gene Hackman

Gene Hackman

Sam Cayhall

Faye Dunaway

Faye Dunaway

Lee Cayhall Bowen

Robert Prosky

Robert Prosky

E. Garner Goodman

Lela Rochon

Lela Rochon

Nora Stark

Bo Jackson

Bo Jackson

Sgt. Clyde Packer

Millie Perkins

Millie Perkins

Ruth Kramer

Court is in session

Put The Chamber 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.