Cocoon

PG-13

Released Jun 21, 1985

1 hr. 57 min.

Fantasy

List

82%

49 Reviews

Tomatometer

60%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Oscar-winning fantasy in which the residents of a Florida rest home get a new lease of life when they stumble across an alien "fountain of youth" in a disused holiday home. Unbeknown to them, aliens have been using the swimming pool in the house to store their cocooned brethren, giving the waters a powerful, rejuvenating quality.

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Critics Consensus

Though it may be too sentimental for some, Ron Howard's supernatural tale of eternal youth is gentle and heartwarming, touching on poignant issues of age in the process.

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R B

You probably have to be elderly to fully appreciate this film. While it is an interesting story, I think it is one of the more overrated films of the 1980's.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/27/23

Full Review

sarah h

Cocoon is awesome! One of the best non-serious scifi movies of it's day. I loved seeing all the classic black and white actors again. They've all died now, and we have this cute little ditty to remember them by.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/07/23

Full Review

Torin F

COCOON's fun-loving elderly cast and location setting makes for a really engaging and enjoyable first half. The movie fatally falters, however, with absurd plotting (the aliens' invitation after their apparent loss) that turns the film into a clumsy, sentimental analogy for the promise of the afterlife.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

06/19/23

Full Review

Taylor L

I'm so confused. I spent so many years thinking that Cocoon was a horror movie, sort of like Invasion of the Body Snatchers but with Wilford Brimley. That is 100% not what this movie is. Though the film has plenty of lighthearted moments (there's lots of friendly dolphins, and it's from 1985, so there had to be a montage in there somewhere), Cocoon is an unusual but oddly tender exploration of aging. The twilight years are really ever only explored two ways in film - you've either got some sort of tortured drama about the ravages of time and missed opportunities (think Anthony Hopkins in The Father) or an uplifiting we're-not-dead-yet bit of hopium (something like The Bucket List or if you're a middle-aged mom, Mamma Mia!). Precious few films explore the elderly or their problems as actual characters, and while Cocoon does have an alien made of light wandering around in a bathrobe, it also gives some sincere thought to what it means to be elderly, with a mind that longs for days past and a body that won't cooperate. There are actual characters at play here, and while the sci-fi stylings and effects are on the weaker side, at its core Cocoon is an interesting drama that shines a light on a period in life that movies - as a means of escapism - would typically rather ignore. We're just not going to talk about how these old guys were swimming in a pool that was supposed to have been abandoned for three years. Mosquitoes and malaria galore. (3/5)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

12/11/22

Full Review

Ella L

This movie is so good. thumbs up. old people can dream too

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/22/22

Full Review

isla s

I thought this was a pretty quirky, amusing watch. Its very much a family friendly fantasy film. The special effects are pretty old fashioned but thats to be expected given its over 30 years old - thats partly why its amusing, the reaction of the actors to the special effects. It does have a moral message behind it about greed, I suppose. Its fairly cheesy at times, even somewhat reminiscent of ET in a way but its a pretty good watch regardless and I'd say its worth seeing, yes.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Ron Howard

Director

Don Ameche

Art Selwyn

Wilford Brimley

Ben Luckett

Brian Dennehy

Walter

Hume Cronyn

Joe Finley

Jack Gilford

Bernie Lefkowitz

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

"Cocoon" is one of the sweetest, gentlest science-fiction movies I’ve seen, a hymn to the notion that aliens might come from outer space and yet still be almost as corny and impulsive as we are.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 12, 2023

Full Review

Rick Lyman

Philadelphia Inquirer

Though the film is impressive in most details... Cocoon is most compelling for the tone of tearful hope that Howard has been able to create.

Rated: 4/4

Nov 12, 2023

Full Review

Bill Cosford

Miami Herald

This is a great deal of performing talent in one small space, and Howard, whether by innate good sense or blind good luck (I’d like to think it’s the former), doesn’t waste a moment of it.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 12, 2023

Full Review

Rick Chatenever

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Even the heartrending "E.T." was basically old-fashioned melodrama in a new sci-fi wrapping; this one, in contrast, manages to be quite provocative at the same time it's thoroughly entertaining.

Nov 12, 2023

Full Review

Robert W. Butler

Kansas City Star

Mr. Howard has a terrific sense of humor, compassion for his characters, and a willingness to look beyond the obvious for revelatory details and touches. “Cocoon” is a first-class example of popular moviemaking.

Rated: 3.5/4

Nov 12, 2023

Full Review

Malcolm Johnson

Hartford Courant

From the very start, "Cocoon" wraps us in a spell.

Nov 12, 2023

Full Review

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Synopsis

Oscar-winning fantasy in which the residents of a Florida rest home get a new lease of life when they stumble across an alien "fountain of youth" in a disused holiday home. Unbeknown to them, aliens have been using the swimming pool in the house to store their cocooned brethren, giving the waters a powerful, rejuvenating quality.

Director: Ron Howard
Screenwriter: Tom Benedek
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox, SLM Production Group, Zanuck/Brown Productions
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 21, 1985, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $75.9M
Sound Mix: Surround