Frantic

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Frantic

R

Released Feb 26, 1988

2h 0m

Mystery & Thriller

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

77%

Tomatometer

43 Reviews

64%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

While attending a medical conference in Paris, Dr. Richard Walker (Harrison Ford) is horrified when his wife, Sondra (Betty Buckley), is abducted from their hotel room while he is taking a shower. Using his limited knowledge of French language and culture, Walker must navigate the bureaucracy of French law enforcement and ultimately, with the help of street waif Michelle (Emmanuelle Seigner), infiltrate Paris' criminal underworld in order to discover what really happened to his wife.

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Critics Consensus

A tense, on-point thriller in the vein of Polanski's earlier work.

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Ian Nathan

Empire Magazine

One of the best traditional thrillers to come down the pike in quite some time.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 19, 2010

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

[Polanski's] usual surrealism is almost completely absent.

Feb 19, 2010

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Variety Staff

Variety

A thriller without much surprise, suspense or excitement.

Oct 18, 2008

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

The progression of events and the structuring of the plot, steadily escalating toward a volatile climax, are sharply handled.

Rated: 7/10

Aug 9, 2023

Full Review

Richard Freedman

Newhouse News Service

There are so many good things in Frantic that one feels irritated the movie as a whole isn't better than it is. It's certainly miles better than Polanski's most recent effort, the disastrous Pirates, but not as good as it should be.

Rated: 2.5/4

Nov 15, 2019

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Cathy Burke

United Press International

It's a film about ordinary people put in unordinary circumstances pressed to extraordinary levels, and the film itself becomes extraordinary by the effort.

Dec 9, 2017

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Jerod S

Young Harrison is trying to find his wife who disappeared from a Paris hotel room. All over a device with 4 wires. Pretty dull.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

04/04/25

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Farah R

A flimsy Polanski thriller that dragged on longer than it needed to, Frantic is mediocre in every way. Even Harrison Ford's decent performance and the captivating streets of Paris in the late 80s couldn't stop my mind from wandering away.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

10/26/24

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Sams K

I absolutely love this one, such a great thriller. Great acting performances and a never disappointing Polanski shows another time the master he really is.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/15/24

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Test T

I watched this on DVD recently. I found the story very engaging, and easy to follow. The acting was effective, and the locations around Paris were interesting. It is quite tense at times, and exciting to watch. Thankfully, the dialogue is in English with only French accents, so there are no subtitles to worry about. I was frustrated by the unhurried pace, which felt too slow during some of the filler scenes. I didn't much like the jazz soundtrack either, especially when it became loud and overt. Otherwise, I enjoyed watching the film, and would recommend it.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/09/24

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Agata M

A timeless masterpiece.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/07/24

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Chai B

There were so many holes in this story it practically made no sense. I would hardly call this a thriller. There was lots of pointless running around and yelling. All the characters were behaving contrary to their best interests. MILD SPOILERS -- the kidnapping made no sense to begin with. And the bad guys were "Arabs".

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

07/03/23

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Roman Polanski

Director

Harrison Ford

Dr. Richard Walker

Emmanuelle Seigner

Michelle

Betty Buckley

Sondra Walker

John Mahoney

U.S. Embassy Official

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Synopsis

While attending a medical conference in Paris, Dr. Richard Walker (Harrison Ford) is horrified when his wife, Sondra (Betty Buckley), is abducted from their hotel room while he is taking a shower. Using his limited knowledge of French language and culture, Walker must navigate the bureaucracy of French law enforcement and ultimately, with the help of street waif Michelle (Emmanuelle Seigner), infiltrate Paris' criminal underworld in order to discover what really happened to his wife.

Director: Roman Polanski
Producer: Tim Hampton, Thom Mount
Screenwriter: Roman Polanski, Gérard Brach
Distributor: Warner Home Vídeo, Warner Bros.
Production Co: Warner Brothers
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 26, 1988, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 18, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA): $17.5M
Runtime: 2h 0m
Sound Mix: Surround

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