Lolita

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Lolita

1962

2h 33m

Romance

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

83%

Tomatometer

92 Reviews

84%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

With a screenplay penned by the author himself, Stanley Kubrick brings Vladimir Nabokov's controversial tale of forbidden love to the screen. Humbert Humbert (James Mason) is a European professor who relocates to an American suburb, renting a room from lonely widow Charlotte Haze (Shelley Winters). Humbert marries Charlotte, but only to nurture his obsession with her comely teenage daughter, Lolita (Sue Lyon). After Charlotte's sudden death, Humbert has Lolita all to himself -- or does he?

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Critics Consensus

Kubrick's Lolita adapts its seemingly unadaptable source material with a sly comedic touch and a sterling performance by James Mason that transforms the controversial novel into something refreshingly new without sacrificing its essential edge.

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Marjory Adams

Boston Globe

3 days ago

Lolita is a masterpiece of irony, which is a quality not often appreciated by filmgoers. What is good in the film, including the vigorous directorial style of Stanley Kubrick, are not virtues most advertised.

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Alexander Walker

London Evening Standard

3 days ago

What the film lacks is a style to match the baroque palace of prose that Vladimir Nabokov [wrote]... But within its own judiciously set limits, it is a stimulating and entertaining -- and cautionary -- tale.

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Stanley Kauffmann

The New Republic

3 days ago

To "normalize" Humbert's sexual penchant and to remove indications of sexual activity from his story is not censorship but metamorphosis; it results in a different, lesser work.

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R.H. Gardner

Baltimore Sun

3 days ago

It is amazing, in view of its sordidness, that this story manages to be as entertaining and, even, hilarious as it is. The book was something of a tour de force, and the same is true of the film.

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Stanley Eichelbaum

San Francisco Examiner

3 days ago

Very frankly, I never expected a film of such brilliance and audacity to emerge from Vladimir Nabokov's scandalous novel.

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Robert P

@Superbad 2 days ago

Lolita is a *4* star Movie!

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Leaburn O

@RT35452347 Oct 8, 2026

I thought Lyons played that precocious role incredibly and Mason was well cast as comically unhinged and desperate. Did service to Nabokov’s brilliant novel. Watched on DVD.

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Junior S

@RT39899143 Aug 29, 2026

Clunky adaptation, penned by Nabokov himself, of his controversial novel of the same name. The main weakness is James Mason, whose performance is much too serious, and who exudes asexuality, undercutting the point of the film. Winters plays her role as a sex-starved widow with sympathetic verve, but the man who steals the show is once again, Peter Sellers as the enigmatic, mercurial Clare Quilty, his performance of which should have netted him at least an Oscar nomination. Sellers wraps his performance in mystery, avant-guard nihilism, powerful self-assuredness, nuance and indifference. Sellers makes Mason look embarrassing in the opening scene, which is really the closing scene.

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Robert H

@thelasthuman Aug 16, 2026

A disturbing movie, but one which has a redeeming social value as a cautionary tale. There are four predators in this movie, and it is a cautionary tale for all four kinds. The two pedophiles, one evil, one confused. The simpleminded widow who played on sympathy to enable her own toxic narcissistic behavior, and the innocent who had been exposed to all three evils and left to deal with it on her own -- and one who never learned that there were alternatives. Such a combination inevitably piles tragedy upon tragedy. That is what this movie teaches us. The 97 movie does this better than the 62 movie but is more blunt about it. Do not watch this unless you want to deal with a harsh gritty reality. Not for younger people. Maybe if you are 40 or older.

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Christian K

@ckacar Jul 14, 2026

First movie I've ever considered not rating. The performances are great for the most part but it is an awkward watch given the subject matter.

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Santos R

@SANTOXIN Dec 14, 2025

Exellence, Stanley Kubrick composition of images and James Mason performance. Really dinamic to see in 2025 and an atemporary story.

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Stanley Kubrick

Director

James Mason

Prof. Humbert Humbert

Shelley Winters

Charlotte Haze

Sue Lyon

Lolita

Peter Sellers

Clare Quilty

Marianne Stone

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Synopsis

With a screenplay penned by the author himself, Stanley Kubrick brings Vladimir Nabokov's controversial tale of forbidden love to the screen. Humbert Humbert (James Mason) is a European professor who relocates to an American suburb, renting a room from lonely widow Charlotte Haze (Shelley Winters). Humbert marries Charlotte, but only to nurture his obsession with her comely teenage daughter, Lolita (Sue Lyon). After Charlotte's sudden death, Humbert has Lolita all to himself -- or does he?

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Producer: James B. Harris
Screenwriter: Vladimir Nabokov
Distributor: MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Criterion Collection, Warner Home Vídeo
Production Co: Harris-Kubrick Productions, Anya, Seven Arts Productions, Transwood
Genre: Romance, Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 13, 1962, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 31, 2008
Runtime: 2h 33m

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