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Anesthesia

Play trailer 2:00 Poster for Anesthesia R 2016 1h 29m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
27% Tomatometer 44 Reviews 51% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
The lives of a self-destructive student (Kristen Stewart), a hard-drinking housewife (Gretchen Mol) and an impoverished junkie (K. Todd Freeman) are linked to the brutal attack of a Columbia University philosophy professor (Sam Waterston).

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Anesthesia

Anesthesia

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Critics Consensus

Anesthesia's incredible cast is wasted on a sloppily-assembled drama whose grand ambitions are undermined by a flawed screenplay.

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Critics Reviews

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Molly Eichel Philadelphia Inquirer 01/29/2016
2/4
The irony of Anesthesia is that, while it uses interconnectivity as a storytelling mechanism, the characters do not really connect. Go to Full Review
John Hartl Seattle Times 01/29/2016
2/4
Stewart stands out because her one big scene seems so passionate and genuine. It's the only moment when "Anesthesia" seems to be working. Go to Full Review
Richard Roeper Chicago Sun-Times 01/28/2016
2/4
A grand gesture going nowhere. Go to Full Review
Don Shanahan Every Movie Has a Lesson 08/14/2022
3/5
The looping arrangement peeking into each character keeps curiosity high, yet its point-of-view is remarkably overcrowded with quandary that feels too manufactured for happenstance's sake. Go to Full Review
Elissa Suh Spectrum Culture 03/04/2020
1.5/5
Anesthesia depicts a tugging wave of gentle ennui and explores it gingerly. Go to Full Review
David Nusair Reel Film Reviews 06/29/2018
2/4
A disappointing misfire... Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Demetrios C @DCChristopher Dec 6 This is such a beautifully laid out story about everyday lives and events partially intersecting. Tim Blake Nelson has already made a name for himself in what feels like a myriad roles (he was absolutely great in O Brother Where Art Thou and Watchmen). I had no idea he was also a director, producer, and writer. I eagerly watched Anesthesia without any preconceived notions ... about anything. By the middle of the movie, I had picked up on the reason for the title. In all these everyday lives, people are using something to cope with. For some it's drugs, for others it's alcohol, for others yet it's other people. It was neither an epiphany nor an elusive mystery. It was a great story told. I was shocked to see the low RT score. I was flabbergasted to read the reviews: such entitled condescension coming from artistic nobodies. Ignore the wannabe critics and just enjoy a film that beautifully tells a story about real life. It's at least as good as Crash (73% / 88%). See more Rodney H 07/15/2024 Loved it!!! Yeah, it maybe talks down to you, but dude’s a philosophy professor so that’s pretty much his job. Every actor/actress really owns their role and I found this a compelling watch with plenty of food for thought as well. Best of all - highly entertaining and the whole thing whizzes by before you know it. See more 02/24/2021 I loved it and the character Sophie portrays teenage struggles and self harm quite well. See more steve d 07/23/2020 Too many fine actors with no time to develop their characters and nothing for them to do. See more 06/28/2020 The big problem is that this movie is going to condescend to you. It's going to use big words and have high concept conversations for no real reason other than to deliver the characters as the types of people that would have those conversations when they could easily have more meaningful simpler conversations, implying that the audience for this movie is intended for those people. That message is immediately lost on the wide variety of characters as this is a multi-threaded story (think "Love, Actually") and situations that we're supposed relate to on behalf of the characters. There is a slew of faces you might recognize, among them Hannah Marx and Kristen Stewart. Most of the acting is well done for what they were given. The movie, while not technically intensive, is shot extremely well, and of nothing else the movie is well balanced with an almost perfect use of "starting with the ending", seriously it comes together beautifully. While I did enjoy the movie somewhat, its more out of respect for the overall composition that I'd rate it highly. It's hard to recommend it outside of academic purposes, and I don't think I'd watch it again. See more 01/17/2020 Great cast. Lackluster story. See more Read all reviews
Anesthesia

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Movie Info

Synopsis The lives of a self-destructive student (Kristen Stewart), a hard-drinking housewife (Gretchen Mol) and an impoverished junkie (K. Todd Freeman) are linked to the brutal attack of a Columbia University philosophy professor (Sam Waterston).
Director
Tim Blake Nelson
Producer
Julie Buck, Tim Blake Nelson, Josh Hetzler, Christopher J. Scott, John Molli
Screenwriter
Tim Blake Nelson
Distributor
IFC Films
Production Co
Grand Schema
Rating
R (Sexual Content|Brief Violence|Language|Drug Use)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 8, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 19, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$22.4K
Runtime
1h 29m
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