The Fly

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2:02

The Fly

R

Released Aug 15, 1986

1h 35m

Horror

Sci-Fi

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

75 Reviews

83%

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50,000+ Ratings

When scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) completes his teleportation device, he decides to test its abilities on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a housefly slips in during the process, leading to a merger of man and insect. Initially, Brundle appears to have undergone a successful teleportation, but the fly's cells begin to take over his body. As he becomes increasingly fly-like, Brundle's girlfriend (Geena Davis) is horrified as the person she once loved deteriorates into a monster.

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Critics Consensus

David Cronenberg combines his trademark affinity for gore and horror with strongly developed characters, making The Fly a surprisingly affecting tragedy.

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Jay Scott

Globe and Mail

The Fly is a mass-market, horror film masterpeice that is also a work of art.

Dec 6, 2022

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Patrick Goldstein

Los Angeles Times

What makes The Fly such a stunning piece of obsessive film making is the way Cronenberg deftly allows us to identify with his monstrous creation.

Aug 4, 2013

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Carrie Rickey

Philadelphia Inquirer

Wildly imaginative, gut-wrenchingly scarifying and profoundly primal (not to mention funny), David Cronenberg's The Fly is a movie that whacks you in the solar plexus and leaves you gasping.

Rated: 4/4

Aug 4, 2013

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Howard Waldstein

CBR

Things go from bad to worse, and the climax of the film is as disgusting as it is moving.

Jul 18, 2023

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Nadine Smith

them.

“Romance” isn’t alway the first word that comes to mind when describing David Cronenberg’s nasty body horror nightmares, but The Fly is nothing if not a deeply loving film.

Oct 27, 2022

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Andy Klein

Los Angeles Reader

Cronenberg has layered the story with so many possible interpretations and resonances that one's head swims.

Aug 12, 2022

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Yannis L

Ce film est horrible dans le bon sens du terme, le "brundlefly" est dégoûtant et effrayant mais l'histoire rend le personnage principal attachant. De nombreuses scènes et images m'ont marquées grâce à la qualité du maquillage exceptionnelle pour l'époque, même si certains effets spéciaux ont pris un coup de vieux.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/12/25

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John W

Good film and a classic. For its time, the effects were outstanding and even by today’s standards they’re still okay. But I would have preferred a different ending. I didn’t really like the ending that much.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/04/25

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Nick K

Probably one of Cronenbergs best works.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/09/25

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Vinicius S

How could so much story be told in 95 minutes and today we have 180 minutes of complete garbage all around?

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/16/25

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Nick O

I love the original Fly, but Cronenberg blows the pants off of it with this ultra-gory, 1980’s creepfest!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/27/25

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Brent G

David Cronenberg is a sick sick man, and I mean that in the best way possible. The Brundlefly is some of the most disgusting makeup and costuming I have ever seen. The slow transformation of Seth to the Brundlefly was terrifying. The performance of Jeff Goldblum is iconic. It really is one of the greatest horror movies ever made. It’s so good, it’s easy to overlook overacting annd sometimes annoying performance of Geena Davis and the story of the creepy ex-boyfriend being framed as the hero. It’s just perfectly done body horror.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

05/20/25

Full Review

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David Cronenberg

Director

Jeff Goldblum

Seth Brundle

Geena Davis

Veronica Quaife

John Getz

Stathis Borans

Joy Boushel

Tawny

Leslie Carlson

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The Fly: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

When scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) completes his teleportation device, he decides to test its abilities on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a housefly slips in during the process, leading to a merger of man and insect. Initially, Brundle appears to have undergone a successful teleportation, but the fly's cells begin to take over his body. As he becomes increasingly fly-like, Brundle's girlfriend (Geena Davis) is horrified as the person she once loved deteriorates into a monster.

Director: David Cronenberg
Producer: Stuart Cornfeld
Screenwriter: David Cronenberg, Charles Edward Pogue
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: SLM Production Group
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 15, 1986, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 24, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $34.9M
Runtime: 1h 35m
Sound Mix: Surround

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