Crash

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Crash

NC-17

1996

1h 40m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

64%

Tomatometer

64 Reviews

61%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

"Crash" is about the strange lure of the auto collision, provoking as it does the human fascination with death and the tendency to eroticize danger. Most motorists will slow down to stare at the scene of a collision; they may feel their pulses quickening and become aware of the fragility of their own bodies. The characters of "Crash" carry this awareness a step further, cherishing and nurturing it. For them, a car collision is a sexual turn-on, and a jolting life force they come to crave.

Critics Consensus

Despite the surprisingly distant, clinical direction, Crash's explicit premise and sex is classic Cronenberg territory.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

It risks being laughed at, and there is a definite, tiny grain of Razzie absurdity that is a part of its weirdly hypnotic high-porn torpor.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 27, 2020

Full Review

Rob Humanick

Slant Magazine

[A] necessarily disturbing and equally profound inquiry into human desire, however self-destructive.

Rated: 4/4

Nov 12, 2012

Full Review

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

For a movie obsessed with the connection between sexual intercourse and car accidents, David Cronenberg's Crash could hardly be more stationary.

Rated: C-

Apr 4, 2011

Full Review

Sam Moore

Vague Visages

While the bodies of these David Cronenberg characters are fusions of technology and skin, the acts that they engage in are also a sort of fusion.

Jun 5, 2024

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

Somehow, its start hooks me with its original premise extracted from the fictional engine of J.G. Ballard, but I'm afraid its erotic vehicle of symphorophilia loses fuel and crashes on repetitive roads. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 6/10

Jun 21, 2023

Full Review

Michael Atkinson

Spin

It's a landmark movie, the kind of film that carves out its own exclusive territory in the cultural forebrain and dares us to cross its border.

Dec 27, 2022

Full Review

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Joshua M

Deep allegory about toxic and broken relationships!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

雅苏典

都是些直白的感官刺激，不咋逻辑，也不太高级

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/18/24

Full Review

Conrad S

This film crawls through a part of your brain you didn't know you had.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/01/24

Full Review

David W

While a bit on the softcore pornographic side for my taste, Cronenberg's 1996 Crash explores cars as extensions of the human body. In his typical style, this exploration focuses heavily on the sexuality and horror this extension can entail. The heavy use of sexual imagery is presented in a highbrow, arthouse style that mostly elevates the film above mere 'Skinemax' style exploitation. For that reason and the interesting portrayal of the human-car relationship, I would watch this again.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/24/24

Full Review

Fagnetha A

Kind of perfect, even if it constantly hovers on the edge of failure. Beautiful and dark, it's a really unique film…

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

09/19/23

Full Review

dogpetdog

For the DVD of this film the back cover has a quote from the New York Times, Janet Maslin. She says, 'Sex and car crashes'. Boy, that's informative, isn't it? Well, truth be told, that's all it is. A bunch of weirdos all get to know to know each other who all have the same fascination; Car crashes get them hot. How they even all meet is absurd. James Spader's character meets Holly Hunter by, you guessed it, crashing into her. And it just so happens she too is sexually excited by car wrecks. After his accident James meets Vaughn at the hospital who just so happens to be obsessed with this junk too. Eventually they all meet 'the group' who are all into this fetish. I've seen this movie more then a few times. It's a solid one star movie. Some of the most awkward sex scenes you've ever seen in your life. Besides James and his girlfriend, most of the other sex happens in cars. Not a lot of room to move? Everybody in their little group does each other, basically. Then there's the car wash scene. About the most awkward 5 minutes of your life. That's a pretty long car wash? The movie is shocking at first, and maybe even erotic in it's own way, if that's what you were hoping for. But after the shock factor, there's no story, the appeal goes away.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

07/20/23

Full Review

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David Cronenberg

Director

James Spader

James Ballard

Holly Hunter

Dr. Helen Remington

Elias Koteas

Vaughan

Deborah Kara Unger

Catherine Ballard

Rosanna Arquette

Gabrielle

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Synopsis

"Crash" is about the strange lure of the auto collision, provoking as it does the human fascination with death and the tendency to eroticize danger. Most motorists will slow down to stare at the scene of a collision; they may feel their pulses quickening and become aware of the fragility of their own bodies. The characters of "Crash" carry this awareness a step further, cherishing and nurturing it. For them, a car collision is a sexual turn-on, and a jolting life force they come to crave.

Director: David Cronenberg
Producer: David Cronenberg
Screenwriter: David Cronenberg
Production Co: The Movie Network (TMN), Telefilm Canada
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (DVD): Nov 17, 1998
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.4M
Runtime: 1h 40m
Sound Mix: Surround