Stoker (2013)
Average Rating: 6.4/10
Reviews Counted: 155
Fresh: 104 | Rotten: 51
Its script doesn't quite carry the dramatic heft of his earlier work, but Park Chan-wook's Stoker showcases his eye for sumptuous imagery and his affection for dark, atmospheric narratives populated by mysterious characters.
Average Rating: 6.2/10
Critic Reviews: 43
Fresh: 27 | Rotten: 16
Its script doesn't quite carry the dramatic heft of his earlier work, but Park Chan-wook's Stoker showcases his eye for sumptuous imagery and his affection for dark, atmospheric narratives populated by mysterious characters.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 9,400
My Rating
Movie Info
After India's father dies in an auto accident, her Uncle Charlie, who she never knew existed, comes to live with her and her emotionally unstable mother. Soon after his arrival, she comes to suspect this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives, but instead of feeling outrage or horror, this friendless girl becomes increasingly infatuated with him.
Cast
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Mia Wasikowska
India Stoker -
Matthew Goode
Charles Stoker -
Nicole Kidman
Evelyn Stoker -
Dermot Mulroney
Richard Stoker -
Jacki Weaver
Gwendolyn Stoker -
Lucas Till
Pitts -
Alden Ehrenreich
Whip -
David Alford
Reverend -
Peg Allen
Housekeeper 1 -
Lauren Roman
Housekeeper 2 -
Phyllis Somerville
Mrs. McGarrick -
Harmony Korine
Mr. McGarrick -
Dominick "Dino" Howard
Pitts' Friend -
Tyler Von Tagen
Young Richard Stoker -
Thomas Covert
Young Charles Stoker -
Jaxon Johnson
Jonathan Stoker -
Paxton Johnson
Jonathan Stoker -
Judith Godrèche
Doctor Jacquin -
Ralph Brown
Sheriff
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Stoker Trailer & Photos
All Critics (155) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (104) | Rotten (51)
'Stoker': Park Chan-wok's sensually sinister 'Shadow of a Doubt'
Top CriticStoker is a movie about tension and inaction, about people trying to figure out what's going on in someone else's head.
Stoker is a cunning exercise in transgression. But one can't help but wonder what kind of film Park might have made if he'd had the full creative control to which he's accustomed in Korea.
None of it is life-changing, but it is effectively eerie. Stylishly spooky, even.
"Stoker" plays out like a Kabuki "Macbeth": gallons of style slathered on a story you already know by heart.
"Stoker" is a thriller in which the big question is not "What will happen next?" but rather "What is going on?"
You never know where Park is going to take you next, even when you're not so sure you want to go along.
It's admirable how effortlessly Park adapts to English, fearlessly exploring his creepy, squirmy themes without compromise.
Style doesn't just win out here, it smashes substance like a bug under a shoe.
Park subverts standard framing rules when characters are speaking to one another, employs sweeping camera movement from weird angles, and stops key scenes just at their climax, only to return to them later for a fuller picture.
The first unquestionably outstanding film of 2013.
As fun as it can be to play this game of spot-the-reference, the movie's too besotted with its own cleverness and stylistic flourishes to generate a genuine sense of risk or menace.
Shades of Hitchcock, but this horror thriller lacks a protagonist worthy of its audience.
It feels like an empty exercise in creepy perversity that's more confusing than coherent.
Stoker is symbolism in search of a story. It's like Breaking Bad if it was a show about Walt killing flies, and only tangentially concerned with the meth business.
India Stoker is a girl with a spider inside her. That's a metaphor to suggest she is both victim and predator within her family web; Park literalizes the idea with shots of a spindly arachnid creeping up the girl's sock, toward her skirt.
Come for the atmosphere, but don't stay for the plot
Falters in spite of Korean director's skills
Stoker is a mystery where the means justify the ends, where even the most cynical viewer will stand up and take notice of where this particular filmmaker is taking us.
In the end it was a little too strange for my taste, but I know fans of the dark and mysterious will love it.
As fascinating as it is frustrating, Stoker boasts all the potential for the making of a great film. Instead, it settles for merely being an admirable one.
The aesthetic accomplishments of the movie can't make up for the lack of a compelling narrative.
Park amps up every moment with a sweaty, ghoulish atmosphere, and he plants the Hitchcock references like an Easter egg hunt.
Stoker, rather improbably, manages to find the handshake place between predictable and confounding. And that's... an achievement?
Audience Reviews for Stoker
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Evelyn Stoker: Personally speaking, I can't wait to watch life tear you apart.
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- India: Just as a flower does not choose its color, we are not responsible for what we have come to be. Only once you realize this do you become free.
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- India: Say that again?
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| On a scale from 1 to 10, how important to you are nibbly fish? | 5 hours ago | 14 |
| Completely blown away | 29 days ago | 3 |
| Stoker | 2 months ago | 1 |
| Stoked For Stoker | 2 months ago | 18 |
Latest News on Stoker
March 1, 2013:
Critics Consensus: Jack the Giant Slayer is Fee-Fie-FokayThis week at the movies, we've got fairy tale swashbuckling (Jack the Giant Slayer, starring...
February 27, 2013:
Park Chan-wook Talks Stoker"I didn't have any idea of making a horror film."
January 18, 2013:
Rotten Tomatoes Radio at Sundance This WeekendSundance 2013 is in full swing and we're keeping up with two bonus shows of Rotten Tomatoes Radio...
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