Crash

NC-17

1996

1 hr. 40 min.

Drama

List

63%

63 Reviews

Tomatometer

61%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

"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.

Read More

Read Less

Critics Consensus

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

Read Critics Reviews

Joshua M

Deep allegory about toxic and broken relationships!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

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

Joel S

A must see of a classic movie.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/06/23

Full Review

Jon G

Stylish and sexy movie, just as you'd expect. Kronenburg has great skill in eroticising otherwise inanimate objects and asking us if a brutal scar can become a fetish. However, regardless of how the camera might linger and the light play off a crumpled fender, the actual eroticism predictably comes from its very sexy female actors. This is kind of the problem, the cars and car accidents become a mildly interesting backdrop to some fairly gratuitous groping, fucking and fingering - so one wonders, or gets to thinking that perhaps the car story arc is not compelling or really adding much. Just as with the book, it's a quite unbelievable concept, that a fringe of people would create such a well populated culture, one that would a) survive long enough to develop any sort of intimate relationship b) would be so aroused in a car accident that they would want to be fucked on the bank their car had just tumbled over. I mean, there may be maniacs out there who fantisise about having a leg torn off in a collision, but I doubt enough of them that would gather around a person's house, to group masturbate over imported crash test videos. Fundamentally, while passing a gory crash site might be morbidly fascinating or even horrifying enough to raise the heart rate, this doesn't translate as sexual no matter how hard the possibility that one might is pushed. I don't want to disregard the artistic effort entirely, it's certainly got merit of sorts, its just that throughout watching the movie I was far more naturally inclined to think how utterly implausible and silly this all was, how unrelatable and not really charismatic any of the cast were. Regardless of how fictional and fantastic a story might be, I don't think the reaction a director would want to cultivate is one in which his audience is continually wondering if what they are watching is basically dumb.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/30/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

David Cronenberg

Director

James Spader

James Ballard

Holly Hunter

Dr. Helen Remington

Elias Koteas

Vaughan

Deborah Kara Unger

Catherine Ballard

Rosanna Arquette

Gabrielle

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

60%

78%

The Dreamers

82%

72%

Broken English

50%

41%

Two Girls and a Guy

86%

88%

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover

0%

50%

Delta of Venus

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

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

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

Mark J. Huisman

The Advocate

If you're in the market for a thrilling ride, buckle up and head for Crash.

Apr 5, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

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
Executive Producer: Jeremy Thomas, Robert Lantos, Andras Hamori, Chris Auty
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
Sound Mix: Surround