Eve's Bayou

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Eve's Bayou

R

1997

1h 49m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

84%

Tomatometer

134 Reviews

90%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Over the course of a long, hot Louisiana summer, a 10-year-old black girl, Eve Batiste (Jurnee Smollett), discovers that her family's affluent existence is merely a facade. The philandering of her suave doctor father, Louis (Samuel L. Jackson), creates a rift, throwing Eve's mother, Roz (Lynn Whitfield), and teenage sister, Cicely (Meagan Good), into emotional turmoil. Eve, though, manages to find some solace with her quirky psychic aunt, Mozelle (Debbi Morgan).

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Critics Consensus

Eve's Bayou marks a striking feature debut for director Kasi Lemmons, layering terrific performances and Southern mysticism into a measured meditation on disillusionment and forgiveness.

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Rosalind Bentley

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Jan 10, 2023

4.5/5

Lemmons also does a stunning job of relaying a memory to us. She places the characters right back into the scene playing in their mind's eye. They narrate it as they witness it, blow by blow. But as we see, things aren't always what they appear to be.

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Alisha Davis

Newsweek

Jan 10, 2023

[Lemmons's] creativity and the breadth of her vision more than make up for her occasional missteps, luring us into a family album of secrets and lies that keeps the audience groping along with this fine ensemble cast for the truths buried in murky waters.

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Eleanor Ringel Cater

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Jan 10, 2023

A

An astonishingly accomplished first feature by Kasi Lemmons, this poetic and achingly perceptive film deserves a place on any number of year-end "best" lists.

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Mar 2, 2026

2.5/4

...an exceedingly (and sometimes excessively) deliberate endeavor that is, at least, elevated by its superb performances and compelling atmosphere...

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Kathy Fennessy

Seattle Film Blog

Nov 16, 2024

3.5/4

In 1997, Roger Ebert named it the best film of the year. In 2018, the Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry...and yet the film, which made back its cost nearly five times over, received zero Oscar nominations. Go figure.

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Annlee Ellingson

CineWomen

Jul 28, 2024

Twenty-five years ago, Kasi Lemmons made her feature directorial debut with Eve’s Bayou, a steamy family drama as steeped in hidden dangers as its 1960s rural Louisiana setting, starring a who’s who of Black cinema.

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Erin G.

@erinthehippie Mar 4, 2026

Best movie I’ve seen in YEARS!!!

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Joe W

@RT33543705 Oct 8, 2025

I enjoyed this film overall but what I really want to praise is the performances. The entire cast delivered but Jurnee Smollett stood out. To be such a young actor at the time she delivered one of the more impressive child performances I have seen. I highly recommend this film just off of her performance.

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Tanisha R

@RT97182268 Feb 14, 2024

This is a good movie. I would recommend this. I feel that it dragged in certain areas where it shouldn't have. Some questionable dialogue with the way the children talked to the adults. I also have unanswered questions on why certain things were happening as far as the relationships between the characters. Overall a good watch.

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Autumn M

@RT26919073 Jan 11, 2024

Eve's Bayou was a great movie. The film centers on the detrimental affects of serial infidelity and instead of focusing on the wife's reaction, the film is focused on the more nuanced reactions of the children who cannot process trauma at the same level as the adults. There is a little mysticism thrown in, as two characters have supernatural gifts. Overall, great performances by Lynn Whitfield, Meagan Good and Samuel Jackson.

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Alec B

@Alec97 Jan 5, 2024

A lyrical meditation on childhood and memory. The film only gets better the more Lemmons shades the supporting characters , subplots, and supernatural elements .

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Ted B

@Movieaddicted Mar 8, 2023

3.5 stars; A good classic story from a novel. This movie is 25 years old back when Samuel L. Jackson was a series actor and before being a Marvel villain. This well done movie is a period piece from the Louisiana swamp backwoods. There is some fine acting from a predominantly black cast. An exceptional performance was given by Jurlee Smollett, who played a 10 year old Eve confronted with adult situations. I felt it lived up to its billing.

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Kasi Lemmons

Director

Samuel L. Jackson

Louis Batiste

Lynn Whitfield

Roz Batiste

Debbi Morgan

Mozelle Batiste Delacroix

Vondie Curtis-Hall

Julian Grayraven

Branford Marsalis

Harry

Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - Mozelle, Hosea and Maynard

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Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - You Little Ingrate

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Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - The Black Widow

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Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - A Letter from Louis

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Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - Caught in the Act

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Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - I Will Kill You

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Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - Something for the Pain

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Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - Life Is Filled With Goodbyes

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Synopsis

Over the course of a long, hot Louisiana summer, a 10-year-old black girl, Eve Batiste (Jurnee Smollett), discovers that her family's affluent existence is merely a facade. The philandering of her suave doctor father, Louis (Samuel L. Jackson), creates a rift, throwing Eve's mother, Roz (Lynn Whitfield), and teenage sister, Cicely (Meagan Good), into emotional turmoil. Eve, though, manages to find some solace with her quirky psychic aunt, Mozelle (Debbi Morgan).

Director: Kasi Lemmons
Producer: Samuel L. Jackson, Caldecot Chubb
Screenwriter: Kasi Lemmons
Distributor: Trimark Pictures
Production Co: Trimark Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 7, 1997, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 7, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $14.8M
Runtime: 1h 49m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital, Surround
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1), 35mm

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