Babel

R

Released Nov 10, 2006

2 hr. 22 min.

Drama

TRAILER

for Babel: Trailer 1

List

69%

207 Reviews

Tomatometer

77%

250,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

An accident connects four groups of people on three different continents: two young Moroccan goatherds, a vacationing American couple (Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett), a deaf Japanese teen and her father, and a Mexican nanny who takes her young charges across a border without parental permission.

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Critics Consensus

In Babel, there are no villains, only victims of fate and circumstance. Director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu weaves four of their woeful stories into this mature and multidimensional film.

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KB B

This was such a compelling film that was so sad at times. I watched it many years ago and couldn't remember very much so I gave it another view. I really liked how the 3 stories slightly intertwined. It's definitely worth the watch.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/19/24

Full Review

Erin C

Full of stereotypes, unrealistic and unanswered connections, and an unnecessarily (uncomfortable) amount of lewd scenes with minors.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/27/24

Full Review

Shioka O

Decent film. Rethinking the way we live in the global society. Maybe these linking fates are unrealistic and overwhelming, but it's gripping from start to end because acting and filming direction are over the top. It's from 2006, I realised that how much technology and ways of communication have been developed since then!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/23/24

Full Review

Miguel F

- el inicio y presentacion no me transmite, hasta que disparan a la mujer - incio calmado no se si bueno o malo - sin mas, explica historias cruzadas pero nada del otro mundo - que se iba a liar con la mejicana y los niños se iban a quedar tirados estaba cantado, no impacta - la historia de la japo la mas intrigante - no entiendo a la policia acribillando a los chavales y el padre, es muy random motivando que ellos disparen - muy forzado que el mejicano huya, no escondia nada, solo estaba algo borracho, pero no como para tener que huir - lo unico que impacta es los niños desaparecidos en el desierto, que luego aparecen sin que ni te lo enseñen y asi como si nada

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/24

Full Review

Alastair M

Beneath the surface of the interwoven parables of helplessness, shame and sorrow is an undercurrent of beautiful, haunting visuals, woven together with a score by Gustavo Santaolalla that renders you emotionally bonded to the characters and their follies.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/10/24

Full Review

Richard L

Although Babel instantly sets itself apart from most other movies by structure alone, and every story (but the Mexican one) feels very grounded and is interesting in its own way, none of them are really strong (nor creative) enough to carry the runtime, and the film does seem a bit full of itself every now and then, especially towards the end.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/30/23

Full Review

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Alejandro González Iñárritu

Director

Brad Pitt

Richard

Cate Blanchett

Susan

Gael García Bernal

Santiago

Kôji Yakusho

Yasujiro

Adriana Barraza

Amelia

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Babel: Trailer 1

2:22

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Namrata Joshi

Outlook

There are moments when a lot is left unsaid. There's a remarkable stillness and delicacy as the music and images interplay and do all the talking.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 23, 2019

Full Review

Brian Tallerico

UGO

The kind of film that will echo deep in your soul.

Mar 24, 2007

Full Review

Mark Holcomb

Time Out

Alejandro González Iñárritu's latest sprawling, dispersed art-film blockbuster prompts a question: Does he just not know how to tell a story?

Rated: 2/6

Feb 3, 2007

Full Review

Josh Slater-Williams

Vague Visages

Babel is Crash with delusions of global grandeur; a film that masquerades as a sweeping, humanistic epic, but is instead an ultimately hammy, superficial and miserablist game of connect-the-dots.

Nov 14, 2023

Full Review

Murtada Elfadl

Sundays with Cate

Blanchett and Pitt are playing a version of the "ugly Americans abroad" trope. The film does not shy away from presenting them as entitled despite the circumstances that they are in.

Rated: B

Mar 4, 2022

Full Review

Catherine Springer

CathsFilmForum.com

Unlike Crash, where the characters felt like cartoons and stereotypes, these characters are fleshed out and real, and the performances are first-rate, with a performance from Brad Pitt that is his most mature work.

Jul 11, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

An accident connects four groups of people on three different continents: two young Moroccan goatherds, a vacationing American couple (Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett), a deaf Japanese teen and her father, and a Mexican nanny who takes her young charges across a border without parental permission.

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Screenwriter: Guillermo Arriaga
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Anonymous Content, Dune
Rating: R (Sexual Content|Language|Some Drug Use|Some Graphic Nudity|Violence)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Arabic
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 10, 2006, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 15, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA): $34.3M

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