The Ice Storm

Play trailer

2:30

The Ice Storm

R

1997

1h 53m

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

86%

Tomatometer

71 Reviews

82%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

In the 1970s, an outwardly wholesome family begins cracking at the seams over the course of a tumultuous Thanksgiving break. Frustrated with his job, the father, Ben (Kevin Kline), seeks fulfillment by cheating on his wife, Elena (Joan Allen), with neighborhood seductress Janey (Sigourney Weaver). Their teenage daughter, Wendy (Christina Ricci), dabbles in sexual affairs too -- with Janey's son Mikey (Elijah Wood). The family's strained relations continue to tauten until an ice storm strikes.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Director Ang Lee revisits the ennui-laden decadence of 1970s suburban America with deft humor and gripping pathos.

Read Critics Reviews

Guy Lodge

Observer (UK)

Nov 25

It’s breath-catchingly pained and delicate in articulating estrangements and losses, aggravated by a November cold snap so tangibly felt in Frederick Elmes’s crisp, brittle cinematography and the icicle-tapping tones of Mychael Danna’s score.

Go to Full Review

Gene Siskel

Chicago Tribune

03/28/2019

4/4

Nothing less than one of the year's best pictures, a portrait of wealthy Connecticut suburbanites in the 1970s whose lives have no emotional or spiritual rudder.

Go to Full Review

David Ansen

Newsweek

02/27/2018

The Ice Storm captures this place, this season, this garish and confused moment in history, with surgical precision...It's Lee's sympathetic detachment that gives the movie its paradoxical power.

Go to Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

05/05/2024

3.5/4

Even while nailing a specific period in time, it’s still able to transcend its setting and speak directly to modern folks who no longer find aesthetic pleasure in impossibly long sideburns.

Go to Full Review

Stephen Silver

Tilt Magazine

09/30/2022

4/5

In fact, just about everything sexual that happens in the film is dirty, unpleasant, unsatisfying, and led to pain and heartbreak for just about everyone involved (25th anniversary)

Go to Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

02/14/2022

4/4

The Ice Storm contains a deeply human authenticity and willingness to portray, but not resolve, its characters' collective alienation.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Tyler P.

@TylerPhoenixMD 4d

Amazing movie! It is taboo but it’s part of the story. Great cast, great music score and amazing acting! If you like independent movies, this ones definitely has the feel you’ll enjoy!

See more

Christian K

@ckacar Feb 25

It can be entertaining to hang out with the most miserable people alive for a little while.

See more

thiago s

@Thiagostone Dec 6

Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom

See more

Blobbo X

@Blobbo Nov 28

Downer, aka I never Sang for My Ice Storm.

See more

Peter T.

@wesbags Nov 25

One of the best dramas I’ve seen. The beauty of the ice storm is that it sneaks up on you. The family goes through small conflicts throughout the whole film, but then at the end when tragedy hits all of those things add up to a traumatic realization of how lost all the characters are.

See more

Michael D

Nov 9

"The Ice Storm" is one of those films that engulfed me so entirely that I felt disoriented upon leaving the theater. I saw it on a hot summer day in Houston, TX, and was so gripped by the story and the setting that I was somewhat disappointed to go outside to warmth and sun after being engrossed in the frozen landscape of the films (and the frozen lives and hearts of the characters). Ang Lee is a master, and he deftly captured not just a time and place, but an unflinching look at what can happen to any of us when we are rudderless and grasping at anything and anyone around us to somehow gives a sense of who we are and where we are going. The film's genius, and punch, lies in the fact that no one gets a neatly wrapped resolution or absolution. Instead, they are forced to face their emptiness and confusion with no real answers. The film may be set in the 70s, but the themes are timeless.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Ang Lee

Director

Kevin Kline

Ben Hood

Joan Allen

Elena Hood

Henry Czerny

George Clair

Adam Hann-Byrd

Sandy Carver

David Krumholtz

Francis Davenport

No Looking Back

36%

64%

No Looking Back

Watchlist

Girl 6

39%

36%

Girl 6

Watchlist

In the Bedroom

93%

81%

In the Bedroom

Watchlist

The Door in the Floor

67%

64%

The Door in the Floor

Watchlist

One Night Stand

34%

39%

One Night Stand

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

11 Most Disastrous Movie Thanksgivings Ever

The Ice Storm: Trailer 1

2:30

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

In the 1970s, an outwardly wholesome family begins cracking at the seams over the course of a tumultuous Thanksgiving break. Frustrated with his job, the father, Ben (Kevin Kline), seeks fulfillment by cheating on his wife, Elena (Joan Allen), with neighborhood seductress Janey (Sigourney Weaver). Their teenage daughter, Wendy (Christina Ricci), dabbles in sexual affairs too -- with Janey's son Mikey (Elijah Wood). The family's strained relations continue to tauten until an ice storm strikes.

Director: Ang Lee
Producer: Ted Hope, Ang Lee, James Schamus
Screenwriter: Rick Moody, James Schamus
Distributor: Fox, 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Good Machine, Fox Searchlight
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 27, 1997, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $7.9M
Runtime: 1h 53m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital, Surround
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.37:1), 35mm

Most Popular at Home Now