An Honest Life

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An Honest Life

2025

2h 2m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

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6 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

When a cynical law student in search of inspiration joins a band of anarchists, he becomes entangled in a web of crime where he is more pawn than player.

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Barbara Shulgasser

Common Sense Media

Netflix bills this as a tale of a "cynical law student," but, as Simon says himself, he is just bored.

Aug 5, 2025

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Juan Pablo Russo

EscribiendoCine

With a stark staging, a cold atmosphere, and a restrained narrative rooted in Scandinavian tradition, An Honest Life avoids taking a stance and presents an ideological ambiguity...[Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 6/10

Aug 4, 2025

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Jason Flatt

But Why Tho? A Geek Community

An Honest Life is not honest with itself about its own politics. It’s an anti-leftist tome masquerading inside a trite anti-rich misfire.

Rated: 3.5/10

Aug 3, 2025

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John Serba

Decider

Honestly, An Honest Life is derivative and mediocre.

Aug 1, 2025

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Karen Gordon

Original Cin

An Honest Life is an interesting if undemanding thriller that weaves together themes of classism, anarchy, and ultimately a young character coming to terms with who he is, and how far off the path of an ordinary life he’s prepared to go.

Rated: B

Aug 1, 2025

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Pramit Chatterjee

Digital Mafia Talkies

Watch movies and read books that actually tackle the topic of economic divide with nuance; avoid An Honest Life like the plague.

Rated: 1/5

Jul 31, 2025

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Audience Member

Pretty slow and unconvincing movie. None of the characters are well developed. I found no sympathy with any of them. Even the end of the movie is strangely unsatisfying.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/14/25

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Juan Carlos T

The film begins with a narrative that attempts to analyze, in a very philosophical way, one of the most difficult issues for a university student: a world of honest yet irrelevant connections. It is entertaining and has certain nuances that make it interesting to watch, even evoking empathy in certain segments of the film with the protagonist, and it features excellent cinematography (its most notable aspect). It fails in trying to make it “entertaining” without addressing plot holes that make it very dull, in addition to excessive sexual scenes (filler) that contribute nothing to the story. In short, it’s the typical film that hooks you at first but then doesn’t know how to keep you engaged.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

08/09/25

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bob c

I couldn’t do more than 20 minutes. But that be just me.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

08/06/25

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R B

An Honest Life should appeal to those who liked And Tomorrow The Entire World (2020) and Victoria (2015), both of which are comparable to some degree and share a similar European sensibility. It may be a little derivative and not quite incisive enough, but An Honest Life is an enjoyable, well-made film that makes a refreshing change from the formulaic Hollywood-inspired characters, dialogue and world view often seen on Netflix.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/04/25

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Mikael Marcimain

Director

Simon Lööf

Actor

Nora Rios

Actor

Peter Andersson

Actor

Nathalie Merchant

Actor

Willy Ramnek Petri

Actor

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Synopsis

When a cynical law student in search of inspiration joins a band of anarchists, he becomes entangled in a web of crime where he is more pawn than player.

Director: Mikael Marcimain
Producer: Anna Anthony
Screenwriter: Linn Gottfridsson
Distributor: Netflix
Production Co: FLX
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Swedish
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 31, 2025
Runtime: 2h 2m

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