20,000 Days on Earth

Released Sep 19, 2014

1h 37m

Drama

List

97%

87 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

A therapist's questions and a visit to a voluminous archive propel a dramatization of a day in the life of musician and cultural icon Nick Cave.

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Critics Consensus

Revealing yet respectful, 20,000 Days on Earth is essential viewing for any Nick Cave fan.

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steve c

Advice: If you don't know who this guy is, like me, don't watch.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Perhaps i am wrong, but i think the magic of this movie (and there IS magic) lies in the fact that it shows us the more personal and existential perspective of an extraordinary life, something most of us will never have, and takes us along in Nick Cave's process of coming to terms with what he did with it, and in the process guiding us through the creative process of how he deals with not just music but life itself.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

william k

Not really a documentary but rather autobiographical essay, the film does shed light on the musician's mind and music, at times humorous as well as self-critical.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

angelo k

Just can't tell if I really sat there for ONLY 97 minutes. At least felt like an hour more, because the pace is inexistent and a plot neither.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I'm not a fan of Nick Cave's borderline pretentious song-writing and rather monotonous music: he's the bastard love-child of Mick Jagger and Tom Waits. But within this overlong day-in-the-life tone poem there are interesting flashes of a less pompous philosopher wrestling with subjects as various as English weather, family and performance. Brief cameos from Ray Winstone, Warren Ellis and Kylie Minogue.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

nefasto r

Nick, can do what he wants.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Iain Forsyth

Director

Jane Pollard

Director

Nick Cave

Self

Darian Leader

Therapist

Blixa Bargeld

Self

Kylie Minogue

Self

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Kenneth Turan

Los Angeles Times

"Something happens onstage," Cave says, "where you forget who you are and become someone else." As much as any documentary can, 20,000 Days on Earth allows us to bear witness to what goes on in that process.

Jan 5, 2015

Full Review

Tal Rosenberg

Chicago Reader

The title refers to the fact that the day chronicled is ostensibly Cave's 20,000th alive, though the movie is so slowly paced that 20,000 days seems more like the running time.

Jan 5, 2015

Full Review

Liz Braun

Toronto Sun

Near the end of the movie, Cave talks about living in the 'shimmering space' where imagination and reality intersect. He's talking about words and music, but he could be talking about 20,000 Days on Earth.

Rated: 4/5

Jan 5, 2015

Full Review

Alex Denney

NME (New Musical Express)

A gripping portrait of Nick Cave that simultaneously mythologises and debunks its subject matter...

Rated: 4.5/5

Apr 22, 2021

Full Review

Jeremy Polacek

Hyperallergic

The performances and behind-the-scenes practices are rocking and revealing. Conversations are generous and surprising; Cave's monologuing inspiring, a celebration of a creativity and action.

Feb 1, 2020

Full Review

David Harris

Spectrum Culture

20,000 Days on Earth is best in the moments where we see Cave interact with others.

Rated: 3.8/5

Nov 27, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

A therapist's questions and a visit to a voluminous archive propel a dramatization of a day in the life of musician and cultural icon Nick Cave.

Director: Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard
Producer: Thomas Benski, Lucas Ochoa, Anna Higgs, Tabitha Jackson, Hani Farsi, Phoebe Greenberg, Penny Mancuso, Paul Goldin, Paul Grindey
Screenwriter: Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard
Distributor: Drafthouse Films
Production Co: British Film Institute, Film4
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 19, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $277.8K
Runtime: 1h 37m

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