Stoker (2013)
TOMATOMETER
Critics Consensus: 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.
Critics Consensus: 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.
Trailer
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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.- Rating:
- R (for disturbing violent and sexual content)
- Genre:
- Drama , Horror , Mystery & Suspense
- Directed By:
- Park Chan-wook
- Written By:
- Wentworth Miller , Park Chan-wook
- In Theaters:
- Mar 1, 2013 Limited
- On DVD:
- Jun 18, 2013
- US Box Office:
- $1.7M
Cast
-
Mia Wasikowska
as India Stoker -
Matthew Goode
as Charles Stoker -
Nicole Kidman
as Evelyn Stoker -
Dermot Mulroney
as Richard Stoker -
Thomas Covert
as Young Charles Stoker -
Jacki Weaver
as Gwendolyn Stoker
Related News & Features
-
Park Chan-wook Adapting Fingersmith
– Collider.com
-
Digital Multiplex: Jack the Giant Slayer and Hansel & Gretel
– Rotten Tomatoes
Stoker Videos
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Critic Reviews for Stoker
All Critics (181) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (124) | Rotten (57) | DVD (1)
It's too safe, too knotty, too wastefully handsome, too dull.
Stoker trembles between the portentous and the ridiculous, and I think you know which one is going to win. The audience does make its decision: They've been had yet again.
Stoker 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.
Enthralling and tremendously entertaining.
Will no doubt be dismissed by a few as little more than a work of filmmaking panache. The panache, though, is what makes the film great.
It's real strength, perhaps, is in its gaps and silences, which allow director Park to go to town with mood, composition and imagery.
I saw the blood but not the beauty or the growth.
The style-over-substance atmosphere ultimately confirms Stoker's place as a disappointingly empty piece of work...
Subtlety is never this film's strong suit, and any mystery there is quickly paved over beneath a thick layer of stupidity.
The first English-language film from South Korean firebrand Park Chan-wook (Thirst; Oldboy), Stoker is a pungent mood piece spiced with mystery, murder and plenty of unsettling emotions.
It's not the story itself that is of interest for cinema lovers, it's how he presents it
The sense of place, internal rhythms and fragile relationships are all developed with mastery by acclaimed director Chan-wook Park (Thirst, Old Boy) in this chilling film where obsession and secrets create an invisible curtain of terror
Not everything is what it seems in Stoker and its strength lies in how much it undermines expectations by taking a revisionist approach to gothic fiction conventions.
A beautifully twisted story, masterfully composed and fiercely performed; Stoker is a hyper visual gothic thriller that can't be missed.
I liked the mood of Stoker: gothic, dark, strange and melancholy. It's like a really creepy Sunday afternoon.
A coming of age story that subverts to a coming of the deranged
Her elder co-stars may lead this psychological mind dance with ease, but it is Mia Wasikowska who astounds the most.
Stoker delves into some seriously dark psychological territory, while somehow rising above it. It pulls the impressive trick of making ugly acts seem beautiful...
Classic film language has been fixed since the 20th century and modern film language can be so frenetic that it's refreshing to see a daring filmmaker creating tension and dread out of slow-paced, deliberate choices rather than quick-cut chaos.
Marvelously assembled by a craftsman who takes pleasure in unsettling our minds while he messes with our eyes.
a hothouse psychodrama rendered in a deliberately cool style that gives it the feel of a dollhouse chamber play conceived in a mental institution
Even if the actual story gets a little soft at times and pulls its punches for the American audience, Stoker is worth taking a look at.
Audience Reviews for Stoker
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
With Chan Wook Park films you are guaranteed a visual treat but you are also usually guaranteed an original and engaging story. Ok, so the film looks great and is original but it has no flare and musters very little interest. The only thing that keeps you interested is the anticipation that sooner or later it's going to get really good but this never happens. I didn't think much of the performances either. A real disappointment, hard to believe this is the same guy that made Old Boy, I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK and the Vengeance films.
MoreSuper Reviewer
Dark, twisted story. Not sure I got it all, but fascinating and beautifully filmed and acted. One to rewatch, I think!
MoreSuper Reviewer
Stoker Quotes
- India Stoker:
- Sometimes you need to do something bad to stop you from doing something worse.
- Sheriff:
- In a hurry? Know how fast you were going?
- India Stoker:
- Vivace effecioso, Mr. Sheriff.
- Sheriff:
- Pardon?
- India Stoker:
- Effectively fast, Mr. Sheriff.
- Sheriff:
- Effective for what?
- India Stoker:
- To get your attention.
- Evelyn Stoker:
- India, who are you? You were supposed to love me, weren't you?
- Evelyn Stoker:
- You know I've often wondered why it is we have children in the first place and the conclusion I've come to is at some point in our lives we realize things are, they're messed up beyond repair. So we decide to start again, wipe the slate clean, start fresh and we have children, little carbon copies we can turn to and say, you will do things I cannot. You will succeed where I have failed because we want someone to get it right this time. But not me, personally speaking I cannot wait to see life tear you apart.
- Evelyn Stoker:
- Personally speaking, I can't wait to watch life tear you apart.
- 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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