The Comfort of Strangers

Name: The Comfort of Strangers
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Released: April 1, 1991
Duration: 107 min
Rating: 61
Cast: Christopher Walken, Daniel Franco, David Ford, Fabrezio Sergenti Castellani, Helen Mirren

1991

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Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews

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The Comfort Of Strangers

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Movie Details & Credits

Cannon Film Distributors | Release Date: April 1, 1991 | R

Starring: Christopher Walken, Daniel Franco, David Ford, Fabrezio Sergenti Castellani, Helen Mirren, Manfredi Aliquo, Mario Cotone, Natasha Richardson, Rossana Canghiari, Rupert Everett

Summary: An English couple holiday in Venice to sort out their relationship. There is some friction and distance between them, and we also sense they are being watched. One evening, they lose their way looking for a restaurant, and a stranger invites them to accompany him. He plies them with wine and grotesque stories from his childhood. They leaveAn English couple holiday in Venice to sort out their relationship. There is some friction and distance between them, and we also sense they are being watched. One evening, they lose their way looking for a restaurant, and a stranger invites them to accompany him. He plies them with wine and grotesque stories from his childhood. They leave disoriented, physically ill, and morally repelled. But, next day, when the stranger sees them in the piazza, they accept an invitation to his sumptuous flat. After this visit, the pair find the depth to face questions about each other, only to be drawn back into the mysterious and menacing fantasies of the stranger and his mate.… Expand

Director: Paul Schrader

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: 107 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

Vincent Canby

Mr. Schrader is a director of great rigor and discipline. The movie is fascinated by the baroque behavior it observes, but without imitating it. Read full review

Bill Cosford

Schrader, one of this country's most literate filmmakers, can be a show-off, and there are times in The Comfort of Strangers when we're more aware of style than story -- this piece is impeccably tailored, and it looks awfully good even when it isn't making sense. [17 May 1991, p.G11]

Hal Hinson

An elegantly wrought bit of nastiness. Read full review

Marjorie Baumgarten

Something about The Comfort of Strangers remains aloof, creating a physical and emotional distance between its characters and its audience. Some of that is, no doubt, Pinter's script. But Schrader pinpoints a nucleus of moral decay and then observes it with a detached clinician's eye rather than the eye if a rapt storyteller. Read full review

Empire Ian Nathan

Slow and foreboding with a memorably creepy Christopher Walken. If you're looking for fun, this ain't it. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Neither the beguiling romance of Venice nor the undraped bodies of Natasha Richardson and Rupert Everett can disguise the hollowness of The Comfort of Strangers. Read full review

Mark Caro

When the film at last reaches its supposedly shocking conclusion, it resembles an overinflated balloon that has finally burst. It is a film that demands that you pay close attention, then rewards none of your diligence. [12 Apr 1991, p.4]

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DrBlahBlah

Mar 1, 2021

What the hell was that? This movie is infuriating. Nice shots of Venice though.

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