Fear X

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Fear X

PG-13

2003

1h 31m

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

56%

Tomatometer

34 Reviews

39%

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1,000+ Ratings

Harry Caine (John Turturro) is a mild-mannered mall cop whose pregnant wife is killed in the underground parking lot where he works. It seems it may have been a contract killing, and Harry becomes obsessed with finding out the details. His investigation eventually takes him to a Montana town, where reality becomes unhinged for him, and he remains disturbingly unfazed by the wintry conditions and eccentric characters. In the end, he's not looking for revenge, just for the reason behind it all.

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Critics Consensus

As hazy, unsettling, and fleetingly insubstantial as a dream, Fear X will lose many viewers in its ambiguities, but is partly propped up by strong work from John Turturro.

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Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

06/15/2011

B-

The director captures a sense of hazy, harrowing obsession that's amplified by his immaculate camera set-ups and pans.

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Lou Lumenick

New York Post

01/28/2005

1.5/4

A pretentious, unsatisfying and ultra-slow-moving thriller.

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Elizabeth Weitzman

New York Daily News

01/28/2005

2.5/4

Fortunately, Turturro's subtle turn keeps our emotional connection solid even when the story skates on thin ice.

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C.H. Newell

Father Son Holy Gore

05/03/2019

4.5/5

Refn explores the dangerous path we find ourselves on when answers don't fit in a tiny, pre-packaged box, when our idealism runs afoul in a world not built for the idealistic.

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Kaleem Aftab

The List

04/17/2019

3/5

The pivotal moment of the film is a special effects sequence that makes Doctor Who look state of the art.

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

12/31/2008

B-

Slick thriller.

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Ennard F

@Ennard Feb 3

I don't understand anything

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Melissa L

@Agent99 Oct 5

If it had ended in the same way it began, I would have rated it higher. The ending of the movie didn't fit the acting from the beginning.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Aug 28

Success in 1 hour and 31 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated PG-13 for Intense Thematic Material!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Alain E

@AlainE May 23

The first half, centered on Turturro was excellent as the viewer is trying to understand what happened in the past. There is a nice slow rhythm and very good color photography. Then suddenly the point of view changes and the movie becomes a mess. I am not sure what the several seconds of evolving red forms are supposed to represent. The other characters introduced are not well developed. Then Turturro is shot and is shown in a room that doesn’t look like ICU nor hospital ward room. In the final scene a cop drives him in the middle of nowhere where, surprise!, his vehicle is waiting. Totally weird.

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Scott H

@RT19662946 May 22

I would call this the worst movie I’ve ever seen if I could actually call it a movie. I can’t. I would call it a proposal to a group of dweebs titled, “How many people can you sucker into wasting an hour and a half?” It had some promise. Then it got boring. Then it got stupid. Then it got really stupid. The dweeb won. The worst proposal I ever watched all the way to the end.

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Twiggy H

@RT13588610 09/27/2024

Initially started off well, for one of those sort of arty slow films (not a lot of dialogue), but seems to get more and more slower as the film goes on. The acting was a off as well, but i put that down to poor film writing as firstly, clearly in the cctv video the wife wasn't the intended person he went to shoot, and secondly, it was totally off character to have a decent cop be unreasonable enough to then go with the intention to shoot the guy in a fudging hotel! when all he had to do is move his lips and tell him about it. Stopped watching at that point.. was just too slow to then be shown 'that' as being the pivotal moment *eye roll*.

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Nicolas Winding Refn

Director

John Turturro

Harry

Deborah Kara Unger

Kate

Stephen Eric McIntyre

Phil

William Allen Young

Agent Lawrence

Gene Davis

Ed

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Synopsis

Harry Caine (John Turturro) is a mild-mannered mall cop whose pregnant wife is killed in the underground parking lot where he works. It seems it may have been a contract killing, and Harry becomes obsessed with finding out the details. His investigation eventually takes him to a Montana town, where reality becomes unhinged for him, and he remains disturbingly unfazed by the wintry conditions and eccentric characters. In the end, he's not looking for revenge, just for the reason behind it all.

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Producer: Henrik Danstrup
Screenwriter: Hubert Selby Jr., Nicolas Winding Refn
Distributor: Silver Nitrate Films
Production Co: Fear X Ltd., Det Danske Filminstitutet [dk]
Rating: PG-13 (Intense Thematic Material)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 19, 2003, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 2, 2017
Runtime: 1h 31m
Sound Mix: Surround

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