Kill Your Darlings

Name: Kill Your Darlings
Genre: Biography, Drama, Thriller, Romance
Released: October 16, 2013
Duration: 104 min
Rating: 65
Cast: Ben Foster, Dane DeHaan, Daniel Radcliffe, David Cross, Elizabeth Olsen

2013

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Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 84 Ratings

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6.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 84 Ratings

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Kill Your Darlings

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Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: October 16, 2013 | R

Starring: Ben Foster, Dane DeHaan, Daniel Radcliffe, David Cross, Elizabeth Olsen, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael C. Hall

Summary: A murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe), Jack Kerouac (Jack Huston) and William Burroughs (Ben Foster).

Director: John Krokidas

Genre(s): Biography, Drama, Thriller, Romance

Rating: R

Runtime: 104 min

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Critic Reviews

A.O. Scott

Oct 15, 2013

Mr. Krokidas deftly shows how the ambition to write is entangled with other impulses. Read full review

Empire Damon Wise

Dec 2, 2013

A vibrant, insightful film about writers and writing, featuring Daniel Radcliffe’s best post-Potter performance. Read full review

Marc Savlov

Nov 20, 2013

The film’s love for its subjects is mirrored in their passionate frenzy for words, and language – spoken, written, body – in general. Above all, and what sets it apart from other cinematic takes on the Beatified, is how much fun it is. It may end in tears, but then, don’t all great love stories? Read full review

David Rooney

Sep 6, 2013

There’s a limber, freewheeling aspect to the storytelling that echoes the rule-breaking literary form of the Beat writers. Read full review

Sam Adams

Oct 16, 2013

Unfortunately, Kill Your Darlings doesn’t know what to do with Radcliffe and DeHaan, good as they are; there’s little sense of how they fit into a larger framework, or what bearing, if any, it might have on its more famous subjects’ later output. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

Oct 31, 2013

Despite its general intelligence and worthy performances, Kill Your Darlings makes it difficult to see how the Beats ever caught on. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Christy Lemire

Oct 18, 2013

Kill Your Darlings presents a minor prelude to a major literary movement. Read full review

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User Reviews

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Aug 23, 2023

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alejandro970

Oct 9, 2016

Daniel Radcliffe is one of his most mature and risky roles. The epoc sreenplay is interesting. Maybe not suitable for some tastes, however is a good choice in the name of curiosity.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

strangebones

May 13, 2021

this movie was beautiful and unique. loved the story, characters and setting. allen ginsberg is one of my loved poets

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

LeZee

Mar 18, 2014

Still not satisfied with Daniel Radcliffe performance. He has to come out from the character Harry Potter. He must lose his eye glass and try to give natural expressions. He has to learn a lot to be a great actor in this competitive cinema world or downfall is guaranteed.

It was a goodStill not satisfied with Daniel Radcliffe performance. He has to come out from the character Harry Potter. He must lose his eye glass and try to give natural expressions. He has to learn a lot to be a great actor in this competitive cinema world or downfall is guaranteed.

It was a good story, but Radcliffe ruined it in few occasions. He tried his best in many parts, I liked his hard work and execution. I though Dane DeHaan tried to stir whole ship by himself behalf of his co-stars, but his role was not built well. Because the story was told from Radcliffe perspective. Yeah, it is the fact that Dane DeHaan saved the movie as much he could.

It was based on a real person and a gay theme. The story sets in the 40s where two students in the English major in Columbia university try to revolutionise the future literacy with their unique ideas. The efforts are made, but stuck in a confused relationship that harms everything in front of them.

As based on homosexual from an earlier era, it was presented well. Kept background secrets of a character to break in at a right time of the story. Initially the title explains its meaning, but as the story progress it becomes more reality. I feel bad to blame everything on Radcliffe but I know someday I gonna praise him with my full heart. I was saying that it would have been nice if his role was given to some other actors like Andrew Garfield or Freddie Highmore. That means it is not a red signal to skip this movie, believe me it is a good movie.… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

CameraBounceGod

Mar 18, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. the idea of theses two as friends only somehow daniel radcliff gets to use phony and he has killed no girl...no im just kidding but really green goblin wouldn't have been sexualizing those literature....but still in comparison to harry potter the green would have to had at least have broken out of This jail....to b honest something about gayness is probably refreshing to ugly people like myself....otherwise i give a 5… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

vitortfv

Dec 3, 2020

Talvez seja mais interessante para quem é familiar com beat generation e os escritores retratados.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

FilipeNeto

Sep 30, 2018

This is one of those movies that I can only understand and evaluate after researching about it. It all begins when Allen Ginsberg joins the prestigious and ultra-conservative Columbia University during World War II. There, he will meet a group of unconventional friends, with pleasure inThis is one of those movies that I can only understand and evaluate after researching about it. It all begins when Allen Ginsberg joins the prestigious and ultra-conservative Columbia University during World War II. There, he will meet a group of unconventional friends, with pleasure in breaking rules and confronting authorities. From this embryo, as I came to discover, would be born the "Beat Generation" (I had never even heard of it before watching). The script, however, seems indecisive. I've never been able to figure out whether the movie is about the "Beat Generation" or simply about Allen Ginsberg, the way he met his friends and the homicide related to them. This indefinition made the film tedious, with many dead moments that would have been cut off if there was some certainty on the subject. John Krokidas was unable to direct the film toward a clear and definite goal. He just went shooting.

Another problem of this film are the characters. Everything revolves around Ginsberg, the only truly well-built character. All the others are sketches and drafts, and the way the actors worked did not help mitigate that. Dane DeHaan is a stranger to me, has managed to show psychological depth and showed some talent, but his character is too iconoclastic and unpleasant for me to care about it and the same can be said of all other characters and actors. Daniel Radcliffe, who was left with the main role, has a lot of talent and is the best actor here, but his character is quite unpleasant. Another problem here was the feeling that the film makes a kind of apology to homosexuality, something that I definitely don't approve. I know the mainstream thinking of our society tends to accept it as a different form of love, but I have the right to disagree and think otherwise without anyone being able to criticize me for it. We shouldn't live in mental dictatorships, in which mainstream dictates thoughts and opinions that we all must accept. Unfortunately, this happens and these apologies end up appearing very much like subliminal fascist or communist propaganda, used by authoritarian regimes that most people condemn. To what extent, using the cover of our democracy and mass media, does society force us to accept opinions or keep quiet if we disagree with them? It's a rhetorical question, but pertinent.

By way of conclusion, I say that I expected something else from this film. A more focused, goal-oriented script would have been more interesting. A more neutral and natural approach to the characters' sexuality would have removed the apologetic and propagandistic burden I've mentioned. More elaborate characters, capable of building empathy with public, would have resulted in greater public involvement and increased our interest in what's happening. It's a boring, tiring movie that only those who enjoy counterculture or the Beat movement will appreciate. About the crime the film portrays, I was left with the feeling that it is a mere detail of the plot.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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