Lolita

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Lolita

Released Jun 13, 1962

2h 32m

Comedy

Drama

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Popcornmeter

91%

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45 Reviews

84%

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25,000+ Ratings

With a screenplay penned by the author himself, Stanley Kubrick brings Vladimir Nabokov's controversial tale of forbidden love to the screen. Humbert Humbert (James Mason) is a European professor who relocates to an American suburb, renting a room from lonely widow Charlotte Haze (Shelley Winters). Humbert marries Charlotte, but only to nurture his obsession with her comely teenage daughter, Lolita (Sue Lyon). After Charlotte's sudden death, Humbert has Lolita all to himself -- or does he?

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Critics Consensus

Kubrick's Lolita adapts its seemingly unadaptable source material with a sly comedic touch and a sterling performance by James Mason that transforms the controversial novel into something refreshingly new without sacrificing its essential edge.

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Variety Staff

Variety

An occasionally amusing but shapeless film.

Mar 26, 2009

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Where Nabokov was witty, Kubrick is sometimes merely snide, but fine performances (particularly from Peter Sellers, as the ominous Clare Quilty) cover most of the rough spots.

May 8, 2007

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Geoff Andrew

Time Out

Far more satisfying than his later works (one hesitates to call them mere movies).

Jun 24, 2006

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Pauline Kael

Partisan Review

The surprise of Lolita is how enjoyable it is: it’s the first new American comedy since those great days in the 1940’s when Preston Sturges recreated comedy with verbal slapstick.

Sep 11, 2023

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Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

Essentially, Kubrick uses Nabokov’s story, and sexual fixation in general, for a meditation on people driven mad by what they can’t have.

Rated: A

Aug 30, 2022

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Dwight MacDonald

Esquire Magazine

Lolita is a disappointment because we have a right to expect more from Kubrick (he may come through with his next, which I am told is to be a satirical treatment of the nuclear "defense" problem).

May 6, 2019

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Gianluca P

A rewriting of the book that entirely missed the point of the story, mischaracterizing Dolores as tempting and the real manipulator instead of what she really is, a helpless victim.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/21/25

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RedApple A

The script might be controversial, but the cinematography is undeniable.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

08/15/25

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Sto C

it's a shame to have a movie like this in the middle of two giants like Spartacus and Dr.Strangelove in Kubrick's film collection. It's a failed attempt to make a movie out of a plotless book — also it gets spoiled in it's entirety at the beginning.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

07/31/25

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Patrick G.

7.5/10 Dis was pretty slow

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/22/25

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Stephen C

LOL, 2 hours and 32 minutes of comedy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/23/25

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Makemake P

Truly horrifying. Captures raw human depravity.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/14/25

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Stanley Kubrick

Director

James Mason

Prof. Humbert Humbert

Shelley Winters

Charlotte Haze

Sue Lyon

Lolita

Peter Sellers

Clare Quilty

Marianne Stone

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Synopsis

With a screenplay penned by the author himself, Stanley Kubrick brings Vladimir Nabokov's controversial tale of forbidden love to the screen. Humbert Humbert (James Mason) is a European professor who relocates to an American suburb, renting a room from lonely widow Charlotte Haze (Shelley Winters). Humbert marries Charlotte, but only to nurture his obsession with her comely teenage daughter, Lolita (Sue Lyon). After Charlotte's sudden death, Humbert has Lolita all to himself -- or does he?

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Producer: James B. Harris
Screenwriter: Vladimir Nabokov
Distributor: MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Criterion Collection, Warner Home Vídeo
Production Co: Harris-Kubrick Productions, Anya, Seven Arts Productions, Transwood
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 13, 1962, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 31, 2008
Runtime: 2h 32m

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