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Boxing Helena

Play trailer Poster for Boxing Helena R 1993 1h 47m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
17% Tomatometer 36 Reviews 35% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
A rich surgeon (Julian Sands) operates on the object of his obsession, his grotesquely disfigured aloof neighbor (Sherilyn Fenn).
Boxing Helena

What to Know

Critics Consensus

A disturbing concept marred by graceless execution, Boxing Helena is a psychosexual drama that proves more tedious than provocative.

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Critics Reviews

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Jay Boyar Orlando Sentinel 05/30/2019
Both the beauty and her beastly pursuer remain too blankly generic for the implications of the movie's main metaphor to come through vividly. Go to Full Review
Dolores Barclay Associated Press 06/12/2018
'Boxing Helena'' is a bad film - with terrible acting, cliched dialogue, a silly script, pedestrian camera work and inferior direction. Go to Full Review
Variety Staff Variety 02/08/2008
It's probably just as well that last-minute dropouts Kim Basinger or Madonna didn't take the title role, as the presence of a star lurking powerlessly on the little platform no doubt would have been distracting and more laughable than it [is] now. Go to Full Review
Joe Lipsett Anatomy of a Scream Podcast Network Oct 10
2.5/5
More sleepy than sensational, Jennifer Lynch's feature directorial debut was unfairly decried as misogynistic torture porn, which is bizarre considering it's so obviously framed as a sick fantasy from the POV of its disturbed male protagonist Go to Full Review
Quentin Crisp Christopher Street 04/06/2022
I am probably prevented by some unwritten law from divulging the end of Boxing Helena. I can only say that, instead of adding an extra twist to this bizarre tale, it deprives it of what little point it had. Go to Full Review
Vanessa Letts The Spectator 07/25/2018
Instead of the grotesque sexual humiliation of Kim Basinger we were all hoping for, we get schoolgirl surrealism. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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John S. @bowtiejohn1 6d I kept watching to try and see one decent scene, but it never came. See more Sandra F 12/01/2024 I'm going against the grain here but looking past whatever passé efforts you may find.. it's one that you have to see, if for no other reason than 1. To say that you have 2. To say 'nope.. not a relationship I'd want thank you very much!' I'll stick with.. love it! See more RyanBurnsPW 08/13/2023 Films like this, in spite of the pedigree of Jennifer Lynch's name, need to be appreciated with an open-mind towards all levels of class art. It smashes together soft-core indulgences, hokey music, and obvious characters emblematic of sexy asshole Bill Paxton and aristocratic doctor Julian Sands with shrewd commentaries on loving relationships and via its uses of slow motion, dream-or-memory passages, and careful, languid dread that eventually sparks into aspirational passion between a captive and her captor. The ending is a whip, but by that moment, all that needed to be said has made its impression. See more 05/02/2022 This movie was unbearable. 🙄 See more 03/12/2022 i looooved it. yes, really. as cool as twin peaks See more 01/25/2021 This film explores the female attempt to gain autonomy as well as man's desire to claim women as objects. I found it to he amazing. If anything, the low ratings prove the thesis of the film: that if a woman tries to express herself, she will be stifled. See more Read all reviews
Boxing Helena

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Movie Info

Synopsis A rich surgeon (Julian Sands) operates on the object of his obsession, his grotesquely disfigured aloof neighbor (Sherilyn Fenn).
Director
Jennifer Chambers Lynch
Producer
Carl Mazzocone, Philippe Caland
Screenwriter
Jennifer Chambers Lynch
Production Co
Mainline Pictures Inc.
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.2M
Runtime
1h 47m
Sound Mix
Stereo, Surround