Eve's Bayou

R

Released Nov 7, 1997

1 hr. 49 min.

Drama

List

83%

132 Reviews

Tomatometer

89%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Over the course of a long, hot Louisiana summer, a 10-year-old black girl, Eve Batiste (Jurnee Smollett), discovers that her family's affluent existence is merely a facade. The philandering of her suave doctor father, Louis (Samuel L. Jackson), creates a rift, throwing Eve's mother, Roz (Lynn Whitfield), and teenage sister, Cisely (Meagan Good), into emotional turmoil. Eve, though, manages to find some solace with her quirky psychic aunt, Mozelle (Debbi Morgan).

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Critics Consensus

Eve's Bayou marks a striking feature debut for director Kasi Lemmons, layering terrific performances and Southern mysticism into a measured meditation on disillusionment and forgiveness.

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Tanisha R

This is a good movie. I would recommend this. I feel that it dragged in certain areas where it shouldn't have. Some questionable dialogue with the way the children talked to the adults. I also have unanswered questions on why certain things were happening as far as the relationships between the characters. Overall a good watch.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/14/24

Full Review

Autumn M

Eve's Bayou was a great movie. The film centers on the detrimental affects of serial infidelity and instead of focusing on the wife's reaction, the film is focused on the more nuanced reactions of the children who cannot process trauma at the same level as the adults. There is a little mysticism thrown in, as two characters have supernatural gifts. Overall, great performances by Lynn Whitfield, Meagan Good and Samuel Jackson.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/11/24

Full Review

Alec B

A lyrical meditation on childhood and memory. The film only gets better the more Lemmons shades the supporting characters , subplots, and supernatural elements .

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/05/24

Full Review

tracyd1233

Eve's Bayou is a masterpiece. From writing, storyline, plot, character development, directing, casting, acting, cinematography, and so on, without flaw, pure perfection. Why this movie didn't garner any Academy Award nominations, never mind sweep every category, is beyond me. I can only conclude the fix was in that year.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/26/23

Full Review

849D W

Great drama and southern suspense.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/21/23

Full Review

Ted B

3.5 stars; A good classic story from a novel. This movie is 25 years old back when Samuel L. Jackson was a series actor and before being a Marvel villain. This well done movie is a period piece from the Louisiana swamp backwoods. There is some fine acting from a predominantly black cast. An exceptional performance was given by Jurlee Smollett, who played a 10 year old Eve confronted with adult situations. I felt it lived up to its billing.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/13/23

Full Review

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Kasi Lemmons

Director

Samuel L. Jackson

Louis Batiste

Lynn Whitfield

Roz Batiste

Debbi Morgan

Mozelle Batiste Delacroix

Vondie Curtis Hall

Julian Grayraven

Branford Marsalis

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Rosalind Bentley

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Lemmons also does a stunning job of relaying a memory to us. She places the characters right back into the scene playing in their mind's eye. They narrate it as they witness it, blow by blow. But as we see, things aren't always what they appear to be.

Rated: 4.5/5

Jan 10, 2023

Full Review

Alisha Davis

Newsweek

[Lemmons's] creativity and the breadth of her vision more than make up for her occasional missteps, luring us into a family album of secrets and lies that keeps the audience groping along with this fine ensemble cast for the truths buried in murky waters.

Jan 10, 2023

Full Review

Eleanor Ringel Cater

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

An astonishingly accomplished first feature by Kasi Lemmons, this poetic and achingly perceptive film deserves a place on any number of year-end "best" lists.

Rated: A

Jan 10, 2023

Full Review

Dave Giannini

InSession Film

Eve’s Bayou tells a painful story that is hard to recover from, especially for the family it impacted. Kasi Lemmons conceived, formulated, and accomplished a special film that would not be forgotten.

Feb 28, 2024

Full Review

James Kendrick

Q Network Film Desk

both complex and engaging, drawing us into the smoldering, simmering world of the Batiste family and their twisted dynamics without turning them into Gothic grotesquerie

Rated: 3.5/4

Mar 27, 2023

Full Review

Brian Susbielles

InSession Film

Mixing in Creole voodoo adds karma and revelation to dark secrets beyond infidelity, making such a stirring film with Samuel L. Jackson as the father...

Feb 14, 2023

Full Review

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Synopsis

Over the course of a long, hot Louisiana summer, a 10-year-old black girl, Eve Batiste (Jurnee Smollett), discovers that her family's affluent existence is merely a facade. The philandering of her suave doctor father, Louis (Samuel L. Jackson), creates a rift, throwing Eve's mother, Roz (Lynn Whitfield), and teenage sister, Cisely (Meagan Good), into emotional turmoil. Eve, though, manages to find some solace with her quirky psychic aunt, Mozelle (Debbi Morgan).

Director: Kasi Lemmons
Executive Producer: Mark Amin, Eli Selden, Julie Yorn, Nick Wechsler
Screenwriter: Kasi Lemmons
Distributor: Trimark Pictures
Production Co: Trimark Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 7, 1997, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 7, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $14.8M
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital, Surround
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1), 35mm

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