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Eve's Bayou

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Eve's Bayou

R

Released Nov 7, 1997

1h 49m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

84%

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134 Reviews

90%

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5,000+ Ratings

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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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

Kathy Fennessy

Seattle Film Blog

In 1997, Roger Ebert named it the best film of the year. In 2018, the Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry...and yet the film, which made back its cost nearly five times over, received zero Oscar nominations. Go figure.

Rated: 3.5/4

Nov 16, 2024

Full Review

Annlee Ellingson

CineWomen

Twenty-five years ago, Kasi Lemmons made her feature directorial debut with Eve’s Bayou, a steamy family drama as steeped in hidden dangers as its 1960s rural Louisiana setting, starring a who’s who of Black cinema.

Jul 28, 2024

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

Thomas M

The best acting performance from Debbi Morgan!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/25/22

Full Review

martin f

I'm far from a fan of this kind of movie. I'm not a fan of those sentimental family dramas taking place in the old time where people talks slowly about love and despair while the young characters learn about consequences and adulthood. The beginning got me worried because of that but Eve's Bayou got above my expectations by giving a mystic twist to his story. Black magic, divination, and voodoo are not the main themes here, it's not a supernatural movie, but they influence the whole film and direction. In the end, the story didn't need any of those mystic elements but I appreciate their presence as they bring a mysterious hook to what would have been a typical period family drama.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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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

Harry

Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - Mozelle, Hosea and Maynard

3:00

Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - You Little Ingrate

2:13

Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - How Come You Never Dance With Me?

1:23

Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - I Want Him Dead!

1:22

Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - The Black Widow

2:07

Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - A Letter from Louis

2:26

Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - Caught in the Act

2:13

Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - I Will Kill You

2:07

Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - Something for the Pain

1:50

Eve's Bayou: Official Clip - Life Is Filled With Goodbyes

2:43

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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
Producer: Samuel L. Jackson, Caldecot Chubb
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
Runtime: 1h 49m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital, Surround
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1), 35mm

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