Exotica

R

Released Mar 3, 1994

1 hr. 44 min.

Drama

List

95%

39 Reviews

Tomatometer

83%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

In the upscale Canadian strip club Exotica, Christina (Mia Kirshner) is the most popular dancer, and she's visited nightly by the obsessive Francis (Bruce Greenwood), a depressed tax auditor. Meanwhile, her ex-boyfriend, the club's MC, Eric (Elias Koteas), still jealously pines for her, even as he introduces her onstage. Eric is having his own relationship problems with the club's owner, Zoe (Arsinée Khanjian), who is intent on becoming pregnant with his child.

Read More

Read Less

Critics Consensus

Exotica simmers with sex and obsession, while successfully doubling as an extreme character study.

Read Critics Reviews

Shioka O

I don't think I fully understood what the director wanted to tell through this film but I appreciated the ambiguousness and atmosphere. Look sexual or erotic on surface, but its not.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/03/24

Full Review

Alec B

A beguiling mystery that demands complete attention. I wish more movies were this willing to challenge audience perception.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/24

Full Review

David M

Perfect film. All time favourite. Yes, movies about tax audits and strip clubs can be fascinating.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/07/23

Full Review

M S

This is a dark boring movie.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/19/23

Full Review

Martin F

Exotica feels like an erotic thriller despite being a drama due to his direction that really brings the tension. It is engaging due to his multidimensional characters who all slowly descent to madness while little by little interacting with each other. There is also some strong and thought-provoking dialogues. Mia Kirshner is electrical in her role, she has a huge sex-appeal here.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Taylor L

This film was introduced to me as an 'erotic thriller'. Holy hell this is not an erotic thriller, it's all the domestic collapse and tragedy of American Beauty but weirder and darker. Psychological and sexually charged doesn't mean erotic, and this film proves it. Exotica doesn't treat sex like a thrill or a passion, it treats it like an emotional crutch. Every character is missing something from their lives, whether they never had, slowly watched it fade away, or saw it torn from their hearts, and in response they congregate in this seedy strip club in Toronto; there this "secret world" as the film calls it is to some a way of life, to everyone vaguely ritualistic. There's this great atmosphere that the film gives off, both emotionally intense and reeling, that makes it clear that the characters are really just flailing in response to scenarios that they have no control over and have suffered through. At the same time, it's got a very David Lynch inventiveness to some of the story beats - including Don McKellar as a pet shop owner under audit that operates a smuggling ring for hyacinth macaw eggs - though I suppose each of those details could fall under the broader definition of the title's 'exotica'. Props for sidestepping a conventional structure to give some meat to the characters before letting the exposition filter in, challenging assumptions about motivation and purpose. It's really not as much of a thriller as it is a suburban sadness piece, but Atom Egoyan (as director, writer, and producer) does an excellent job of redefining sexuality as a means of crude escapism rather than the commodified version you might see as part of a commercial for body spray. (3.5/5)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Atom Egoyan

Director

Bruce Greenwood

Francis Brown

Mia Kirshner

Christina

Don McKellar

Thomas Pinto

Arsinée Khanjian

Zoe

Elias Koteas

Eric

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

15%

34%

54

75%

53%

The Crossing Guard

81%

65%

Georgia

85%

78%

The Wings of the Dove

64%

87%

Rounders

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Trailer Bulletin: The Insane "Smokin’ Aces"

Trailer Bulletin: Where the Truth Lies

Egoyan’s "Truth" May Lie with an NC-17

View more photos

Derek Smith

Slant Magazine

For all the initial mysteriousness of virtually everyone’s actions, Atom Egoyan is never coy for the sake of being coy.

Sep 22, 2022

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

A central part of the movie's dreamlike ambience derives from the fact that the camera is in motion in practically every shot.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 7, 2022

Full Review

Robert Horton

Film Comment Magazine

Atom Egoyan makes his most conventionally-satisfying film in Exotica. I don't mean that as a putdown: it's his best movie, too, though some of his early academic-theory fans may be put off at its accessibility.

Apr 10, 2018

Full Review

David Harris

Spectrum Culture

As an exploration of trauma and heartbreak, Exotica plumbs the depths of the human heart in ways most films have never dared.

Apr 25, 2023

Full Review

Brian Susbielles

InSession Film

It is not a film about sex, but about the emotional impact, a setting provides with its cathartic assistance in healing trauma.

Feb 14, 2023

Full Review

James Kendrick

Q Network Film Desk

a master class in complex narrative design in the service of dramatizing the depths of human emotion

Rated: 4/4

Oct 17, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

In the upscale Canadian strip club Exotica, Christina (Mia Kirshner) is the most popular dancer, and she's visited nightly by the obsessive Francis (Bruce Greenwood), a depressed tax auditor. Meanwhile, her ex-boyfriend, the club's MC, Eric (Elias Koteas), still jealously pines for her, even as he introduces her onstage. Eric is having his own relationship problems with the club's owner, Zoe (Arsinée Khanjian), who is intent on becoming pregnant with his child.

Director: Atom Egoyan
Executive Producer: Robert Lantos
Screenwriter: Atom Egoyan
Distributor: Miramax Home Entertainment [us], Miramax Films
Production Co: Miramax Films, Alliance Entertainment
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 3, 1994, Original
Release Date (DVD): Jun 19, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $5.0M
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo