Detachment

Released Mar 16, 2012

1 hr. 37 min.

Drama

List

59%

70 Reviews

Tomatometer

74%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Henry Barthes (Adrien Brody) is a substitute teacher who shuns emotional connections, and never stays long enough in one district to bond with his students or colleagues. Troubled and lost, Henry lands at a public school where an apathetic student body and disinterested parents have created a frustrated, burned-out group of teachers and administrators. Inadvertently, Henry becomes a role model to his disaffected students and bonds with a teenage runaway who is just as lost as he is.

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Critics Consensus

Detachment's heart is in the right place, but overall it doesn't offer any solutions to its passionate ranting.

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Me D

After the movie, you must detach yourself from the gripping and masterful story of Detachment.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/10/24

Full Review

John O

Spoilers: How do you cope with life when your Dad is long gone, you find your mother dead of suicide when you're 7 and your Grandpa has to raise you? I suppose you do the best you can, smart enough to become a teacher, concerned enough to know and want excellence, gentle enough to want your students to do well, but wary enough to have a hit-and-run job, substitute teacher, here and gone, no time to make serious attachments, able to be, well, detached, as Adrien tries to be. There are relentless slices of harmed but surviving life of the other teachers and the principal, the wonderful Marcia who is about to be fired. A procession of great actors, Tim, the burnout. Caan the cynic and satirizer of the futility of being a public school teacher (I saved another student). Lucy the try guy. Christina the seeker of love. Blythe the optimist. Bryan who hits Marcia right where it hurts. William still trying for order amid the chaos. Sami the errant waif teen prostitute, whom Adrien works to save yet wants to move away from. The sick suicidal teen, Betty, who falls for Adrien because he "sees her." This is like a Picasso, an eye on the foot, an ear on the elbow, a succession of moments of trying, failing and surviving. The end is hopeful when Adrien finally says screw it, I will be attached and he visits Sami in the foster kid operation and they end up with purity in each other's arms. I think many believe this is a public school or overall societal critique. But it is just a window into how damaged people cope, in a difficult world, and how doing things well for self and others can lead to new directions. Stuck in the muck doesn't mean no way out. Aren't we all there? Bravo.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/07/24

Full Review

bao s

No ,.............. ....

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/03/24

Full Review

Claudia G

The consensus is that it's a good movie but offers no solution. Isn't that the point? That we are all stuck in this day after day numbness? Including the ones who are meant to teach the young?

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/20/24

Full Review

æ ç

只是因為產生共鳴，但，確有遺憾。不過...值得

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/19/24

Full Review

Anonymous A

It's a really good movie that highlights a lot of important things that are overlooked. It was a little bit too sad though.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/11/24

Full Review

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Tony Kaye

Director

Adrien Brody

Henry Barthes

Marcia Gay Harden

Carol Dearden

James Caan

Mr. Seaboldt

Christina Hendricks

Ms. Madison

Lucy Liu

Dr. Parker

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Candice Frederick

Reel Talk Online

A gripping drama, Detachment offers a gut-wrenching look at the school system, as told by the unsung heroes--the teachers.

Rated: A

Sep 8, 2017

Full Review

Donald Clarke

Irish Times

Detachment has such original energy and is so infused with righteous anger that it proves hard to dismiss.

Rated: 3/5

Jul 15, 2012

Full Review

Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Grappling with the dilapidation of America's school system is fair enough, but the movie is painfully undone by its pretentious poetry of despair.

Rated: 1/5

Jul 13, 2012

Full Review

Sonia Zadurian

CineVue

Detachment clearly has high aspirations, but unfortunately its jumbled narration means that it falls just shy of the mark.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 26, 2019

Full Review

PJ Nabarro

Patrick Nabarro

Tony Kaye's ragged, expressionistic aesthetic may have its detractors but it intuitively suits the wrought scenario of Detachment.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 8, 2019

Full Review

Neely Swanson

Easy Reader (California)

This is imitation Polanski, and not a good imitation at that.

Sep 18, 2017

Full Review

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Synopsis

Henry Barthes (Adrien Brody) is a substitute teacher who shuns emotional connections, and never stays long enough in one district to bond with his students or colleagues. Troubled and lost, Henry lands at a public school where an apathetic student body and disinterested parents have created a frustrated, burned-out group of teachers and administrators. Inadvertently, Henry becomes a role model to his disaffected students and bonds with a teenage runaway who is just as lost as he is.

Director: Tony Kaye
Executive Producer: Adrien Brody, Patrick Sterkick, Andre Laport
Screenwriter: Carl Lund
Distributor: Tribeca Film
Production Co: Paper Street Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 16, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 16, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $71.2K

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