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Anesthesia

Play trailer 2:00 Poster for Anesthesia R Released Jan 8, 2016 1h 29m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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27% Tomatometer 44 Reviews 50% 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

View All (44) Critics Reviews
Molly Eichel Philadelphia Inquirer The irony of Anesthesia is that, while it uses interconnectivity as a storytelling mechanism, the characters do not really connect. Rated: 2/4 Jan 29, 2016 Full Review John Hartl Seattle Times Stewart stands out because her one big scene seems so passionate and genuine. It's the only moment when "Anesthesia" seems to be working. Rated: 2/4 Jan 29, 2016 Full Review Richard Roeper Chicago Sun-Times A grand gesture going nowhere. Rated: 2/4 Jan 28, 2016 Full Review Don Shanahan Every Movie Has a Lesson 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. Rated: 3/5 Aug 14, 2022 Full Review Elissa Suh Spectrum Culture Anesthesia depicts a tugging wave of gentle ennui and explores it gingerly. Rated: 1.5/5 Mar 4, 2020 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews A disappointing misfire... Rated: 2/4 Jun 29, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (51) audience reviews
Rodney H 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. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/15/24 Full Review Audience Member In "Anesthesia," Nelson attempts to explore life and the ways people tend to detach themselves from it, but eventually find connection through a series of loosely interconnected characters. The main problem is, the film doesn't spend enough time developing any of them beyond just scratching the surface, instead devolving into long self-reflective speeches with nothing much new to say on the matter. However, this cast is packed with talented and recognizable faces, but unfortunately, the thin script doesn't give them much to do, no matter how hard they try. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member I loved it and the character Sophie portrays teenage struggles and self harm quite well. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review steve d Too many fine actors with no time to develop their characters and nothing for them to do. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member 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. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Great cast. Lackluster story. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Anesthesia

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Cast & Crew

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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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