Crash

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Crash

NC-17

1996

1h 40m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

65%

Tomatometer

62 Reviews

61%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

"Crash" is about the strange lure of the auto collision, provoking as it does the human fascination with death and the tendency to eroticize danger. Most motorists will slow down to stare at the scene of a collision; they may feel their pulses quickening and become aware of the fragility of their own bodies. The characters of "Crash" carry this awareness a step further, cherishing and nurturing it. For them, a car collision is a sexual turn-on, and a jolting life force they come to crave.

Critics Consensus

Despite the surprisingly distant, clinical direction, Crash's explicit premise and sex is classic Cronenberg territory.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Nov 27, 2020

4/5

It risks being laughed at, and there is a definite, tiny grain of Razzie absurdity that is a part of its weirdly hypnotic high-porn torpor.

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Rob Humanick

Slant Magazine

Nov 12, 2012

4/4

[A] necessarily disturbing and equally profound inquiry into human desire, however self-destructive.

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Apr 4, 2011

C-

For a movie obsessed with the connection between sexual intercourse and car accidents, David Cronenberg's Crash could hardly be more stationary.

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

Mar 19, 2026

4/5

‘…burrows into one of the darkest areas of human behaviour and makes a virtue of horrific detail…’

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Sam Moore

Vague Visages

Jun 5, 2024

While the bodies of these David Cronenberg characters are fusions of technology and skin, the acts that they engage in are also a sort of fusion.

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Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

Jun 21, 2023

6/10

Somehow, its start hooks me with its original premise extracted from the fictional engine of J.G. Ballard, but I'm afraid its erotic vehicle of symphorophilia loses fuel and crashes on repetitive roads. [Full review in Spanish]

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Joshua M

Feb 8, 2023

Deep allegory about toxic and broken relationships!

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Blu B

@RT43513976 Oct 30, 2026

Well it's basically an erotic psychological thriller that explores the minds of a group of people who get aroused by car crashes by being in them or around them. That's pretty much the entire story in a nutshell and there really isn't much else and that's a unique and interesting idea but there isn't anything substantial here beyond that. The acting, music, and cinematography is all solid here. But it's only because the best thing here is Cronenberg's solid direction the entire time. The framing, camerawork, chemistry on screen with actors is all there and elevates this for quite a while. A testament to how strong a director he is. But after Spader meets the group this films three biggest problems kick in. The characters all blend in and just start screwing each other because there really isn't any true unique distinguishing character to anyone here after that. Second stuff just happens it feels like as we bounce around from one sex scene to the next and a car crash in between for good

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SIMAS C

@simas_eros Oct 27, 2026

A film with an intense erotic charge from start to finish, centered on a group of people who become sexually aroused by car accidents and the resulting injuries. It may seem strange at first, but it quickly gets under your skin—and is never forgotten. It features iconic scenes and characters who seem to inhabit a dreamlike state, living out their desires exactly as they please.

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Robert P

@Superbad Sep 23, 2026

Crash = a 3.5 star Movie!

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Alejandro V

@Pelicula Jul 29, 2026

I’ve seen it twice it impressed me more the first time but in both cases is quite a piece of work. I like the actors. It’s quite graphic. It serves the plot however. Not for every taste but a good piece of work if you like movies and particular directors.

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Scott R

@ScottR Jul 4, 2026

SNS22 list. Sadly this did not have much to it beyond its original premise and it devolved into stupidity. Saw on box.

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David Cronenberg

Director

James Spader

James Ballard

Holly Hunter

Dr. Helen Remington

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Deborah Kara Unger

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Synopsis

"Crash" is about the strange lure of the auto collision, provoking as it does the human fascination with death and the tendency to eroticize danger. Most motorists will slow down to stare at the scene of a collision; they may feel their pulses quickening and become aware of the fragility of their own bodies. The characters of "Crash" carry this awareness a step further, cherishing and nurturing it. For them, a car collision is a sexual turn-on, and a jolting life force they come to crave.

Director: David Cronenberg
Producer: David Cronenberg
Screenwriter: David Cronenberg
Production Co: The Movie Network (TMN), Telefilm Canada
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (DVD): Nov 17, 1998
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.4M
Runtime: 1h 40m
Sound Mix: Surround

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