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At Eternity's Gate

Play trailer 2:26 Poster for At Eternity's Gate PG-13 2018 1h 50m Biography History Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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79% Tomatometer 191 Reviews 66% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Famed but tormented artist Vincent van Gogh spends his final years in Arles, France, painting masterworks of the natural world that surrounds him.
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At Eternity's Gate

At Eternity's Gate

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Critics Consensus

Led by mesmerizing work from Willem Dafoe in the central role, At Eternity's Gate intriguingly imagines Vincent Van Gogh's troubled final days.

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Critics Reviews

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Randy Myers San Jose Mercury News Finds Willem Dafoe pulling off an acting tour de force as the deteriorating, emotionally and mentally unstable artist. Rated: 4/4 Apr 9, 2021 Full Review Mark Kermode Kermode & Mayo's Film Review It takes an impressive stance on the visuals. Apr 3, 2019 Full Review Graham Fuller Sight & Sound Haggardly embodied by Dafoe, Vincent is an ingenuous, socially alienated figure aghast at the suffering he must endure. Apr 2, 2019 Full Review Keith Garlington Keith & the Movies The gorgeous locales, Dafoe’s impassioned and affecting portrayal, the exquisite piano chords from Tatiana Lisovskaya score all work together to help us see things as Vincent sees them. Rated: 4.5/5 Aug 19, 2022 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Mixes fact and fiction to provide a look at Van Gogh's tortured mental state during his final years. Rated: 3/4 May 16, 2022 Full Review Toussaint Egan Polygon At Eternity's Gate is a dreamlike work of art. Oct 22, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Kevin P An intimate deep dive into Vincent Van Gogh's unique perspective of life and how he battles his mental illness through his art. Willem Dafoe may have been 26 years older than Van Gogh at the time of filming, but he blew me away with his performance. He brings so much passion and subtle emotion into the role and really helps the audience place ourselves into Van Gogh's psyche at the time. Oscar Isaac and Mads Mikkelson are also great as the brash artist and concerned priest respectively. There is a lot of awkward shaky-cam, but I'd argue it still works as it creates a very dreamlike feeling for the movie. The cinematography was effective and thoughtfully shot on-site in southern France, where Van Gogh originally painted. It's fascinating watching Van Gogh's point of view and how he gets inspiration for his paintings from everyday things. I loved the debate about the confines of what defines good painting as Van Gogh's art is painted in "one good stroke", which may come across more like a sculpture than a painting. However, this is distinctly his own unique style that gave birth to modern stylistic art as we know it. I loved the pretty low angles views of trees and nature as Van Gogh walked through nature to find inspiration. The film has an interesting conversation where Van Gogh discusses Shakespeare's appeal to mystery & interpretation, while the bar maiden prefers more accessible and easily digestible stories to read. The film is scored with a very sweet and somber gentle piano soundtrack. You feel so bad for Van Gogh with all the cold apathy and mockery he endures from the local townsfolk, even from a group of school children and their teacher. There's a great scene of rejection sensitivity dysphoria where the negative lines said by someone else repeat over and over in your head. The film doesn't shy away from or sugarcoat the rougher sides of Van Gogh's manic episodes. But it still enlightens us to the methods of his inspirations and joys. How Van Gogh adores nature, as it calms him down whenever he's overstimulated. As he paints to "stop thinking". There's another great scene where Van Gogh talks about his paintings where he sows for another generation to harvest, much like Jesus who only became famous after death. The movie plays around with the vague idea whether Van Gogh's death was manslaughter or from taking his own life, leaning more towards the former. The movie certainly isn't for everyone with its loose structure and experimental camera work. But I personally really connected with its theming about how we channel our best and worst emotions through our passions, and it's so satisfying to see Willem DaFoe in the lead role again. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/13/25 Full Review Dylan S. I found the Dafoe’s portrayal of Van Gogh captivating, and very well complicated by the cinematography. The visuals are stunning, and the story is compelling . The soundtrack makes you feel like you’re in a dream or a novel. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/22/25 Full Review Julian Rex M A responsible, beautiful, and relatable depiction of both the life of Vincent Van Gogh and the artist's experience, At Eternity's Gate compresses the events of an artist's difficult--and often painful--life with tasteful style and boundless understanding. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/10/25 Full Review Leprechaun K An absolute treat. Great performance by Dafoe. Should have won the Oscar for this performance that year. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/12/25 Full Review Hector I A film that had been on my list for a while. I saw it by chance, and I don't regret it! We follow the life of the painter in a version that adapts a number of rumors about his life (his illness, his troubled vision, his death). The film left me with a strange impression: William Dafoe is very accurate in his role, and the direction is interesting, even if the formal moments are better mastered than those evoking his visions. The feeling I got from this vision of Van Gogh's life was: my God, what a terrible life! Unloved in the Impressionist circle, apart from Gauguin, with whom relations were rather stormy. Rejected by southerners, children, schoolteachers... the famous southern welcome? Only finds relative peace when he paints. I liked the way his vital need to paint is conveyed, and how he opposes Gauguin, who tells him to think about his composition, to take his time, that he puts so much paint on that it looks more like sculpture. A film that makes you want to find out more about the painter's life, once you realize that he leans towards certain theories that are a little far-fetched. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/11/25 Full Review Jerry E Almost unwatchable because of the jerky, meaningless handheld camera movement, which philistines mistake for “art.” The “music” is a depressing cacophony of noise, leaving one with an impression of hopeless misery, with not a speck of the artist’s joyful eruption of creativity. Dafoe’s performance is wasted in this misfire by a self-indulgent and inept director. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/28/24 Full Review Read all reviews
At Eternity's Gate

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Movie Info

Synopsis Famed but tormented artist Vincent van Gogh spends his final years in Arles, France, painting masterworks of the natural world that surrounds him.
Director
Julian Schnabel
Producer
Jon Kilik
Screenwriter
Julian Schnabel, Jean-Claude Carrière, Louise Kugelberg
Distributor
CBS Films
Production Co
SPK Pictures, Iconoclast, Rahway Road, Riverstone Pictures
Rating
PG-13 (Some Thematic Content)
Genre
Biography, History, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 16, 2018, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 29, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA)
$2.3M
Runtime
1h 50m
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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