Drowning by Numbers

R

Released Apr 26, 1991

1 hr. 59 min.

Comedy

List

88%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

88%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Cissie Colpitts (Joan Plowright) drowns her cheating husband and in the ensuing cover-up enlists the help of lonely coroner Henry Madgett (Bernard Hill), an old friend with a longstanding weakness for her charms. But when Cissie's daughter (Juliet Stevenson) and granddaughter (Joely Richardson) both decide to resort to the same methods for solving conflicts with their own frustrating husbands, the Colpitts women and their repeated appeals for help begin to wear on Madgett's conscience.

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Piotr C

One of my favorite films, ever. Cool!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/12/24

Full Review

William L

"In loving memory of an unemployed non-swimmer." I've never seen a movie that completely predates Wes Anderson that looks so much like a Wes Anderson film. The careful composition with an emphasis on central framing, the eccentric characters, the vibrant costume choices, the fanciful details (including a series of largely invented children's games often explained in comprehensive detail) and the offbeat storyline. Furthermore, Greenaway adds in an unusual device to establish structure, beyond a repetitive plot - hiding the numbers one to one hundred in consecutive order throughout the film, from casual conversation to odd, nearly third-wall-breaking prop choices. The director was doing something genuinely different than his contemporaries, and most importantly his design choices (while very original) don't come across as if they were added simply to give the film a hook for audiences to latch on to; if the indie films to come in subsequent decades were "not like the other girls", then Drowning By Numbers is a black comedy that isn't focused on image or pretension in the slightest. Anchored by a feminist message, Drowning by Numbers is really most memorable for its pure delightful quirkiness, both in script and visual design. There are pieces of pure surrealism that make little sense in the context of the story and are never really given much in the way of an explanation, but you just gradually grow to accept as a component of Greenaway's distinctive style. (4/5)

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/19/21

Full Review

Audience Member

exceptionel movie.....

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Wow. I've found each and every character gross. Movie with a solid story. But so far the one I've liked the least by Greenaway.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Another arty one. I had no clue what to expect, but not that! Visually very impressive, story very surreal, death everywhere!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

S R

1001 movies to see before you die. This one was tedious and odd. I also didn't find it very funny, just cynical. It had some unique filming, but other than that I don't plan to ever see it again. RUS.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

11/09/23

Full Review

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Peter Greenaway

Director

Bernard Hill

Madgett

Joan Plowright

Cissie Colpitts 1

Juliet Stevenson

Cissie Colpitts 2

Joely Richardson

Cissie Colpitts 3

Jason Edwards

Smut

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Jake Cole

Slant Magazine

Peter Greenaway’s Drowning by Numbers is perhaps the most direct illustration of the filmmaker’s key thematic and aesthetic interest in ascribing structure to a chaotic universe.

May 1, 2023

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Here is a movie so personal and quirky that perhaps you will enjoy it more than I did, and I do not want to spoil your fun, since the movie is playful above everything else.

Rated: 2/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

The most unbearable film by Peter Greenaway. [Full review in Spanish]

Dec 12, 2022

Full Review

Alain Masson

Positif

The fact that there are so many rules and that they can be degraded make a supreme form of regularity impossible at the same time as it becomes more essential, more urgent. Such formal matters permeate the whole film.

May 4, 2022

Full Review

Brian D. Johnson

Maclean's Magazine

Drowning by Numbers is a surreal, satirical descent to the dark side of English gamesmanship. It is a brilliant black comedy.

Oct 11, 2019

Full Review

Hilary Mantel

The Spectator

It never seems safe to recommend [director Peter] Greenaway; only to say that, take it or leave it, he is a genius.

Apr 9, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

Cissie Colpitts (Joan Plowright) drowns her cheating husband and in the ensuing cover-up enlists the help of lonely coroner Henry Madgett (Bernard Hill), an old friend with a longstanding weakness for her charms. But when Cissie's daughter (Juliet Stevenson) and granddaughter (Joely Richardson) both decide to resort to the same methods for solving conflicts with their own frustrating husbands, the Colpitts women and their repeated appeals for help begin to wear on Madgett's conscience.

Director: Peter Greenaway
Screenwriter: Peter Greenaway
Production Co: Allarts Enterprises
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 26, 1991, Original
Release Date (DVD): Apr 23, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $22.1K
Sound Mix: Surround

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