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Angels and Insects

Play trailer Poster for Angels and Insects R 1995 1h 58m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
67% Tomatometer 24 Reviews 68% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
In Victorian England, wealthy patriarch Sir Harald Alabaster (Jeremy Kemp) invites an impoverished biologist, William Adamson (Mark Rylance), into his home. There, William tries to continue his work, but is distracted by Alabaster's seductive daughter, Eugenia (Patsy Kensit). William and Eugenia begin a torrid romance, but as the couple become closer, the young scientist begins to realize that dark, disturbing things are happening behind the closed doors of the Alabaster manor.

Critics Reviews

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Mike Clark USA Today 01/01/2000
3.5/4
No matter what you think this adaptation of A.S. Byatt's novella Morpho Eugenia sounds like, it's better and certainly kinkier than your best parlor-game guess. Go to Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 01/01/2000
3.5/4
Angels and Insects is like the dark underside of a Merchant-Ivory film; in one scene, we visit a sunny, pastoral clearing in the woods, and lift up a rock to see the plump, slimy little slugs and larvae beneath, dining on each other. Go to Full Review Quentin Falk Sunday Mirror (UK) Jan 20
1/5
Though the sex is steamy and Kensit's dark secret a shocker, it all turns out to be exquisitely boring. Go to Full Review Quentin Curtis Independent on Sunday Jan 20
Haas, with the help of a Nymanesque score and vivid if static photography, efficiently transfers a complex text to the screen without ever quite animating it. Go to Full Review Chase Burns The Stranger (Seattle, WA) 02/23/2022
While some of these scenes are world-class, others deserve to be in the trash... Go to Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 08/09/2007
C
A notch above the dry, analystic and tedious films that Philip Haas usually makes, largely due to acting of Kristin Scott Thomas and explicit sexuality. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Stephen C @bob25009 07/01/2025 Success in 1 hour and 58 minutes. See more Fong Kok Hoong F @RT29722865 08/22/2018 Set in the days shortly after Darwin's first publications, the caste system of an ant colony in an aristocratic Victorian English family is explored with alluringly intricate mysteriousness in Philip Haas' adaptation of A.S. Byatt's novella. See more 10/15/2015 Very well done period piece with surprising twists & turns, drama & superb acting. Both men & women will enjoy it. See more 09/05/2015 A very old-styled period drama. See more 08/17/2015 "Ángeles e Insectos" es un drama de época dirigido a un público adulto y maduro (algo muy raro en el cine contemporáneo) acerca de un naturalista (Mark Rylance) que cae en las redes de una adorable y atractiva hija de una familia acomodada (Patsy Kensit). La premisa de esta cinta, basada en la novela "Morpho Eugenia" de A.S. Byatt, es la de mostrarnos cómo el orden social de los insectos dista mucho del de los humanos. Kristin Scott-Thomas, como es costumbre, nos entrega una soberbia actuación en un papel secundario. See more 08/17/2015 "Ángeles e Insectos" es un drama de época dirigido a un público adulto y maduro (algo muy raro en el cine contemporáneo) acerca de un naturalista (Mark Rylance) que cae en las redes de una adorable y atractiva hija de una familia acomodada (Patsy Kensit). La premisa de esta cinta, basada en la novela "Morpho Eugenia" de A.S. Byatt, es la de mostrarnos cómo el orden social de los insectos dista mucho del de los humanos. Kristin Scott-Thomas, como es costumbre, nos entrega una soberbia actuación en un papel secundario. See more Read all reviews
Angels and Insects

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Cast & Crew

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Philip Haas

Director

Mark Rylance

William Adamson

Kristin Scott Thomas

Matty Crompton

Patsy Kensit-Healy

Eugenia Alabaster

Jeremy Kemp

Sir Harald Alabaster

Douglas Henshall

Edgar Alabaster

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Angels and Insects

Angels and Insects (1995) Angels and Insects (1995) Angels and Insects (1995) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis In Victorian England, wealthy patriarch Sir Harald Alabaster (Jeremy Kemp) invites an impoverished biologist, William Adamson (Mark Rylance), into his home. There, William tries to continue his work, but is distracted by Alabaster's seductive daughter, Eugenia (Patsy Kensit). William and Eugenia begin a torrid romance, but as the couple become closer, the young scientist begins to realize that dark, disturbing things are happening behind the closed doors of the Alabaster manor.
Director
Philip Haas
Producer
Kerry Orent, Belinda Haas
Screenwriter
A.S. Byatt, Belinda Haas, Philip Haas
Distributor
Samuel Goldwyn Company, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc.
Production Co
Samuel Goldwyn Company
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 26, 1995, Original
Box Office (Gross USA)
$3.4M
Runtime
1h 58m
Sound Mix
Surround