The Burning Plain

Name: The Burning Plain
Genre: Drama, Romance, Crime
Released: September 18, 2009
Duration: 107 min
Rating: 45

2009

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 51 Ratings

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7.3

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7.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 51 Ratings

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The Burning Plain

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Movie Details & Credits

Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: September 18, 2009 | R

Summary: The Burning Plain, a romantic mystery about a woman on the edge who takes an emotional journey back to the defining moment of her life. Sylvia is a beautiful restaurant manager whose cool, professional demeanor masks the sexually charged storm within. When a stranger from Mexico confronts her with her mysterious past, Sylvia is launchedThe Burning Plain, a romantic mystery about a woman on the edge who takes an emotional journey back to the defining moment of her life. Sylvia is a beautiful restaurant manager whose cool, professional demeanor masks the sexually charged storm within. When a stranger from Mexico confronts her with her mysterious past, Sylvia is launched into a journey through space and time that inextricably connects her to these disparate characters, all of whom are grappling with their own romantic destinies. In Mexico, a young motherless girl, Maria, lives happily with her father and his best friend until a tragic accident changes it all. In the New Mexico border town of Las Cruces, two teenagers, Mariana and Santiago, find love in the aftermath of their parents’ sudden deaths. In an abandoned trailer, a housewife, Gina, embarks on a passionate affair that will put Sylvia and the others on a collision course with the explosive power of forbidden love. (Magnolia Pictures)… Expand

Director: Guillermo Arriaga

Genre(s): Drama, Romance, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 107 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Gary Goldstein

Powerful, profound and beautifully rendered. Read full review

Tirdad Derakhshani

For a film that strives so hard to show the sheer messiness of real people's lives, Burning Plain does have an impossibly neat ending. Read full review

Mark Feeney

The best performance here comes from a Mexican child actress, Tessa Ia, as half of one of the fraught mother-daughter relationships. Read full review

Amy Biancolli

The main drawbacks of The Burning Plain are its intentionally coy narrative and a zero-hour revelation that's ill-thought-out and generates some pretty chintzy psychobabble. It's the wobbliest element in an admirable, complex and frustrating movie. Read full review

Joe Neumaier

All the actresses, especially Theron, are appropriately haunted, but let's hope Arriaga's love of echoes, fate and coincidence has run its mopey course. Read full review

Scott Tobias

The characters in The Burning Plain are so narrowly defined by tragedy that they reveal no other facets of humanity. Read full review

Nicolas Rapold

This film’s greatest accomplishment is that its theatrical gestures manage to feel preposterous, pretentious and routine at the same time. Read full review

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User Reviews

AwesomeRaider

May 13, 2015

This movie is interesting because the interactions of Americans and Mexicans.
And the mini-stories told in this movie to find logic.
Good actuations from Basinger and Lawrence,the rest is OK! This movie could have given more in the history. Esta película es interesante debido a laThis movie is interesting because the interactions of Americans and Mexicans.
And the mini-stories told in this movie to find logic.
Good actuations from Basinger and Lawrence,the rest is OK!
This movie could have given more in the history.

Esta película es interesante debido a la interacción entre Estadounidenses y Mexicanos
Y las mini historias son contadas en esta película para encontrar lógica.
Buenas actuaciones de Basinger y Lawrence,el resto esta BIEN!
Esta película pudo haber dado mas en la historia.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

KateK

Oct 3, 2009

I loved it! Intense, emotional, whatever the faults, I don't care because it has heart and pathos and that's what I most love in the movies.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

WayneB

Sep 20, 2009

Outstanding. Award worthy acting, especially from Charlize Theron & Kim Basinger in a well chosen and attractive cast.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

MasaT

Jan 15, 2012

This is GOOD movie. It is powerful story but not chronological.
You should watch this twice (or more).
Storyline is moving in perfect harmony.
Charlize Theron is award worthy acting.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

StaticSpine

Jun 13, 2014

The actors are nice and the story is decent, but I didn't get emotionally engaged while watching. Overall it was pretty boring, maybe the filming is bland.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

nirishan9

Jan 21, 2013

An odd movie, really. Not bad, not good, easily forgettable. The emotions just don't pop and grab you, but it's watchable. Jennifer Lawrence does offer a good deal of acting though.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

atabeyordekci

Aug 19, 2021

A drama with a two-tiered storyline concerning a mother and daughter who try to form a bond after the young woman's difficult childhood. (6)

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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