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Beloved

Play trailer Poster for Beloved R 1998 2h 52m History Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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71% Tomatometer 126 Reviews 70% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
In 1873 Ohio, Sethe (Oprah Winfrey) is a mother of three haunted by her horrific slavery past and her desperate actions for freedom. As a result, Sethe's home is haunted by a furious poltergeist, which drives away her two sons. Sethe and her daughter (Kimberly Elise) endure living with the spirit for 10 more years, until an old friend, Paul D. Garner (Danny Glover), arrives to run it out. After Garner moves in, a strange woman named Beloved (Thandie Newton) enters their lives, causing turmoil.
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Beloved

Beloved

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Critics Consensus

A powerful, emotional and successful film adaptation of the original novel.

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Critics Reviews

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Elvis Mitchell Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com 02/02/2022
3/4
It's a daring and provocative collection of ideas and heart that needed to be better, but still has something going for it. Go to Full Review
Ann Hornaday Baltimore Sun 02/02/2022
4/4
The result is an extraordinary film that is always hypnotically watchable, even as it presents the audience with scenes of harrowing pain. Go to Full Review
Ella Taylor L.A. Weekly 02/02/2022
Demme's Beloved is permanently heated to the boil. Rightly so, for the terrain of Toni Morrisons magisterial novel, on which the movie is based, is not the politics of slavery but its private agonies, the torture of evil turned inward against the self. Go to Full Review
Wesley Lovell Cinema Sight 02/06/2023
4/4
“Beloved” is easily one of the year’s best films. An emotionally intense motion picture. Go to Full Review
Alison Macor Austin American-Statesman 02/02/2022
4/4
Beloved stumbles a bit during its first half-hour. The narrative smooths itself out, however, and finds a groove that makes the remaining 145 minutes barely noticeable. More important, the length proves absolutely essential in conveying Sethe's story. Go to Full Review
Eleanor O'Sullivan Asbury Park Press (NJ) 02/02/2022
3.5/4
Demme is the right choice to direct Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel: He brings to the movie his humanism, his fascination with nature and the inexplicable, and his respect for actors. As Sethe, Winfrey has rare grace and strength. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Johnny H Aug 5 Brilliant movie! Strange, gripping and keeps you there for the entirety See more Tricia K Aug 3 Why this film doesn't have a higher tomato score is confusing and perhaps only because critics and audiences were judging it against the book. As a film in and of itself itself it is powerful and engaging from start to finish. The story as told by the film is unique especially for the time it was made, and just in general it is a unique story of slavery the south and the north and its promise of freedom colliding with one another. Beah Richards' performance is the stuff of greatness, and the foundation of all the great performances, where a lineage of actors mirrors the lineage of the characters in the film, and surely each actors ancestors were speaking through them telling us what happened, at the level of both the individual and the collective. See more Ivster t May 26 So this was a pretty good film..I think the comments pertaining to "worthless to watch" derived from that person probably being a "white trash American snob" who either had their feelings hurt or are an active clan member.. Either or..but it was a watchable film See more Rosana B Dec 31 Um filme de drama psicológico gótico, com direito a poltergeist, amo, e a dor da escravidão, nos flashbacks sombrios e doloridos… Uma pena não ter recebido os créditos que merecia, apesar do elogio da crítica especializada, ficou pouco no cinema e arrecadou menos ainda, e levou Oprah a depressão com o fracasso... "É perigoso amar tanto assim, o melhor é amar tudo só um pouquinho, assim, se ela partir, fugir ou for roubada, talvez ainda lhe sobre um pouco de amor." "Amor fraco não é amor" See more Jerod S @jeroduptown 05/20/2023 Portions of Beloved gave chilling insight to slavery and all the things that come with it. Other parts felt like Jodie Foster in Nell. Other parts seemed to be a rabbit trail that took our eyes off Oprah's family and the central action of the story. See more Steve D 02/12/2023 Fans of the book will love it but the story has never worked for me. See more Read all reviews
Beloved

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Movie Info

Synopsis In 1873 Ohio, Sethe (Oprah Winfrey) is a mother of three haunted by her horrific slavery past and her desperate actions for freedom. As a result, Sethe's home is haunted by a furious poltergeist, which drives away her two sons. Sethe and her daughter (Kimberly Elise) endure living with the spirit for 10 more years, until an old friend, Paul D. Garner (Danny Glover), arrives to run it out. After Garner moves in, a strange woman named Beloved (Thandie Newton) enters their lives, causing turmoil.
Director
Jonathan Demme
Producer
Jonathan Demme, Kate Forte, Gary Goetzman, Edward Saxon, Oprah Winfrey
Screenwriter
Toni Morrison, Akosua Busia, Richard LaGravenese, Adam Brooks
Distributor
Buena Vista Pictures
Production Co
Touchstone Pictures, Harpo Films, Clinica Estetico
Rating
R
Genre
History, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 16, 1998, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 12, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$22.8M
Runtime
2h 52m
Sound Mix
SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS, Surround
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