Serena

Name: Serena
Genre: Drama
Released: March 27, 2015
Duration: 109 min
Rating: 36
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence

2015

METASCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 49 Ratings

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5.2

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5.2	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 49 Ratings

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Serena

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Movie Details & Credits

Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: March 27, 2015 | Not Rated

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence

Summary: In the North Carolina mountains at the end of the 1920s, George (Bradley Cooper) and Serena Pemberton (Jennifer Lawrence), love-struck newly-weds, begin to build a timber empire. Serena soon proves herself to be equal to any man: overseeing loggers, hunting rattle-snakes, even saving a man’s life in the wilderness. With power and influenceIn the North Carolina mountains at the end of the 1920s, George (Bradley Cooper) and Serena Pemberton (Jennifer Lawrence), love-struck newly-weds, begin to build a timber empire. Serena soon proves herself to be equal to any man: overseeing loggers, hunting rattle-snakes, even saving a man’s life in the wilderness. With power and influence now in their hands, the Pembertons refuse to let anyone stand in the way of their inflated love and ambitions. However, once Serena discovers George’s hidden past and faces an unchangeable fate of her own, the Pemberton’s passionate marriage begins to unravel leading toward a dramatic reckoning.… Expand

Director: Susanne Bier

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 109 min

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Critic Reviews

Joe Neumaier

Apr 1, 2015

The atmosphere surrounding them both is enveloping. While the story falls a bit into melodrama, that can’t chop away at the solid drama the stars and director build beautifully. Read full review

Geoff Pevere

Dec 4, 2014

A film that should be shamelessly soaked in passion and thrusting erotic delirium is instead posed and prettified, to the point where “camp” comes to mean more than the place where lumberjacks work – it’s also the movie’s defining vibe. Read full review

Vadim Rizov

Mar 25, 2015

Played as a kind of constant wake, grimly marching on to tragedy, Serena is hurt by relentless applications of Johan Söderqvist’s unimaginatively somber score and DP Morten Søborg’s reliance on lots of over-the-shoulder handheld shots, the camera swinging close to and around people’s faces and shoulders. Read full review

Stephen Dalton

Oct 21, 2014

It is difficult to believe a single word of it, still less to care about these relentlessly selfish and short-sighted characters. Read full review

Steven Rea

Mar 27, 2015

Serena is one long eye-roll of calamities and corn. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Brian Tallerico

Mar 27, 2015

It’s a flat-out disaster, the kind of film that its cast and crew hope gets buried as quickly as possible as they race to move on to other projects. Read full review

Joe Morgenstern

Mar 26, 2015

Any kind of acting requires courage. Great acting requires formidable courage. Then there’s the dogged courage, spawned by devotion to duty, of wonderful actors like these, doing what they’re asked to do even though they must know that it’s no damned good. Read full review

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User Reviews

nosma

Jul 7, 2016

I am surprised and dismayed by the bad and lukewarm reviews this movie got. My expectations were very low and i was pleasantly surprised. I liked the movie the story is quite emotionally involving and I've been a Bradley Cooper fan for quite a while. The movie is certainly not mindblowingI am surprised and dismayed by the bad and lukewarm reviews this movie got. My expectations were very low and i was pleasantly surprised. I liked the movie the story is quite emotionally involving and I've been a Bradley Cooper fan for quite a while. The movie is certainly not mindblowing but I was thoroughly entertained and I enjoyed every moment.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

dpredrag

Nov 7, 2015

I usually write a review only when my opinion drastically differentiates from what I find already contributed - when there's a dire need to tip the scale. And there is one here, to save this incredible film from the lynch mob.

This atmospheric dark period romance set in an unusual stageI usually write a review only when my opinion drastically differentiates from what I find already contributed - when there's a dire need to tip the scale. And there is one here, to save this incredible film from the lynch mob.

This atmospheric dark period romance set in an unusual stage has a lot of human drama to offer. And this is what S. Bier is known at excelling. And pouring it on, which obviously irritates some part of the audience. But it is all done with a lot of taste for timing, with a good and fresh modern editing which disposes of most needless parts of the action and instead rather reserves that time for us to think about it all during the breaks of foggy Smoky Mountains scenery. (Obfuscation plays a leading role here, and this landscape couldn't be a better choice.)

Film is layered with appropriately somber music used/mixed with subtlety, and likewise it gorgeous photography has been wonderfully appreciated by the edit which understands its visual potential. This is one of those rare instances where a pattern of handheld closeups doesn't seem gratuitous, but does manage to bring us closer to the characters. Beside this being the result of the strong characters themselves, it is also a combination of a slower, not-frenetic pace, with a lot of static masters too.

While there might be some unbelievable decisions the characters make in this story, we need to remind ourselves that instead of treating this as a negative, these are the emotional extremes we should be welcoming, in an emotional rawness which needs appreciation. At the end, it is an emotional and symbolic theatre in which all the elements and symbols have and live to deliver their wonderfully intertwined meanings.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

auragngx

Jan 5, 2022

Many people seem to dislike this movie but I actually really enjoyed it. The characters and story line are well written in my opinion and the actors are incredible too.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLuis_001

Sep 6, 2017

Serena is not a bad movie in its execution, unfortunately her melodrama feels too much created and processed becoming irrelevant and tedious.

Probably one of the most forgettable jobs in Cooper and Lawerence's career

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

cjwaddell

Aug 15, 2015

Serena certainly didn't have the best dialogue, but I don't think the movie is terrible. It has a good plot, it has a wonderful cast (I think they should have known the characters better), but overall it's not bad. They got Asheville and Waynesville right. My only real problem... why theSerena certainly didn't have the best dialogue, but I don't think the movie is terrible. It has a good plot, it has a wonderful cast (I think they should have known the characters better), but overall it's not bad. They got Asheville and Waynesville right. My only real problem... why the hell didn't they film it here. Yes, I'm from Waynesville. And there are still plenty of places around here to get that 1929 vibe. I mean, part of "The Hunger Games" was filmed here, so Jennifer Lawrence knows our area. Authentic goes a long way.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TheDude-

Jun 13, 2015

Serena doesn't work because Bradley cooper and Jennifer Lawrence do not have any chemistry also the plot is uninteresting and the dialogue has no effort put into it
Verdict:Would rather get punched in the balls.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Now-Hear-Me-Out

Apr 15, 2015

“This movie is probably what people picture in their head what Heaven’s Gate is. Without having seen Heaven’s Gate this is probably what they picture in their head.” “… No matter how much you‘d be prepared for a movie to be really bad, you can still just be shocked by what you’re seeing.”“This movie is probably what people picture in their head what Heaven’s Gate is. Without having seen Heaven’s Gate this is probably what they picture in their head.” “… No matter how much you‘d be prepared for a movie to be really bad, you can still just be shocked by what you’re seeing.”

- Brad “The Cinema Snob” Jones… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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