Cloud Atlas

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Cloud Atlas

R

Released Oct 26, 2012

2h 52m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

Sci-Fi

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

66%

Tomatometer

288 Reviews

66%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

Actors (Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent) take on multiple roles in an epic that spans five centuries. An attorney harbors a fleeing slave on a voyage from the Pacific Islands in 1849; a poor composer in pre-World War II Britain struggles to finish his magnum opus before a past act catches up with him; a genetically engineered worker in 2144 feels the forbidden stirring of human consciousness -- and so on. As souls are born and reborn, they renew their bonds to one another throughout time.

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Critics Consensus

Its sprawling, ambitious blend of thought-provoking narrative and eye-catching visuals will prove too unwieldy for some, but the sheer size and scope of Cloud Atlas are all but impossible to ignore.

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Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

I was hypnotized by Cloud Atlas.

Rated: 3.5/4

Mar 23, 2022

Full Review

Brandy Howard

Autostraddle

[There's'] far too many actors in this town to have to bother paying Tom Hanks $100,000,000 and putting him in nine hundred scenes as different ethnicities and races.

Aug 31, 2021

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Julie Goldman

Bitch Media

There were so many prosthetic noses.

Aug 31, 2021

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Michael Cuby

them.

Cloud Atlas tells a huge story in ways that often felt personal and small.

Oct 3, 2022

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Cloud Atlas will confound and maybe even aggravate some unwilling to, quite simply, “go with the flow.” But others will find what few have: a bold, technically awesome, and thematically enduring picture whose arrangement and ambition are unprecedented.

Rated: 4/4

Sep 21, 2022

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

It’s a highly ambitious picture that pulls off an incredibly clever storytelling technique. But it could also be viewed as a three-hour grind that features many of the Wachowski’s familiar self-indulgences.

Rated: 2.5/5

Aug 19, 2022

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Ian R

I have to agree with one critic in particular, I was hypnotized by this film. There are better films that draw out the theme of freedom, but none that match the scope of this monster. It's long, but the 50 odd characters played by only a handful of actors alone, is worth the time. I found it highly satisfying.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/13/25

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Tyler G

A unique movie. I have never seen another movie told using this type of plot structure. For me, it works.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/28/25

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John W

If ever a movie was a 1 & 5 ☆ movie...this one is .. critically falls in the middle ...personally....it's not a great movie that's worth viewing once every couple years.... so bad it's great territory... parts of it are above average...parts of it are criminally bad....

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/27/25

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Hank M

A movie that may require rewatching it a few times and each of those times you'll discover something new

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/09/25

Full Review

F P

The Wachowskis have something great about them, and then always found a way to fall short (expect for the first Matrix of course). Cloud Atlas is a challenging book to turn into a movie, so some credits are due. Visually it lacks some credibility at times, and feels like a different casting would have worked much better. Definitely watch the movie.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/25

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Kristen D

I found this film on a list of box office bombs, believe it or not. I instantly chose to watch it when I read that most critics gave it poor reviews because it was considered too-far reaching to be understood properly. I wondered to myself why in the world we would ever, as human beings, be content with calling something "too far-reaching" or "too intelligent" instead of seeking to expand our minds— only to have the movie turn out to be a story about that very concept. So long as we remain in ignorance, we will remain enveloped in hate. So long as we are unable to agree and disagree without being labeled "one of them," we will never be united. The totalitarian regime known as Unanimity in this film combine the words "unity" and "anonymity," to create their name, meaning that they believe that the only chance we have at peace is through total sameness. The rebels disagree. This was an absolutely beautiful work of art that instantly slid into my top three movies of all time.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/19/25

Full Review

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Lana Wachowski

Director

Lilly Wachowski

Director

Tom Tykwer

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Synopsis

Actors (Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent) take on multiple roles in an epic that spans five centuries. An attorney harbors a fleeing slave on a voyage from the Pacific Islands in 1849; a poor composer in pre-World War II Britain struggles to finish his magnum opus before a past act catches up with him; a genetically engineered worker in 2144 feels the forbidden stirring of human consciousness -- and so on. As souls are born and reborn, they renew their bonds to one another throughout time.

Director: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, Tom Tykwer
Producer: Grant Hill, Stefan Arndt, Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, Lilly Wachowski
Screenwriter: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, Tom Tykwer
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: X-Filme Creative Pool, Cloud Atlas Production, Anarchos Productions Inc.
Rating: R (Sexuality/Nudity|Language|Some Drug Use|Violence)
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller, Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 26, 2012, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $27.1M
Runtime: 2h 52m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby A, DTS

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