The Ice Storm

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2:30

The Ice Storm

R

1997

1h 53m

Drama

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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.

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Critics Consensus

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

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Guy Lodge

Observer (UK)

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.

Nov 25, 2025

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Gene Siskel

Chicago Tribune

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.

Rated: 4/4

Mar 28, 2019

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David Ansen

Newsweek

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.

Feb 27, 2018

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

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.

Rated: 3.5/4

May 5, 2024

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Stephen Silver

Tilt Magazine

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)

Rated: 4/5

Sep 30, 2022

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

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

Rated: 4/4

Feb 14, 2022

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Blobbo X

Downer, aka I never Sang for My Ice Storm.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/28/25

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Peter T.

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.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/25/25

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Michael D

"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.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/09/25

Full Review

Leslie G

I read the book before the movie, and was spot on. Perfect snap shot of the time period - both in set design and in tone. Beautifully captured the atmosphere and emotions of a sexually confused, political, post Vietnam time. Heartbreaking yet hopeful.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/31/24

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Josue R

The movie has a really good cast but it failed to connect with me. I feel that without spoiling the movie certain characters didn’t behave or have the reactions you’d expect in very difficult life situations. Maybe that was the point but it didn’t feel intentional to me.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

06/27/24

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M B

I saw this movie in the theaters when it first came out. I remember being so bored, maybe I fell asleep. I just gave it another watch, as I couldn't remember a thing about it. Yep, still dreadfully boring. Unbelievable to me that people like this movie. It's a big fat snooze. I give them one star for costumes and location.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

06/01/24

Full Review

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Ang Lee

Director

Kevin Kline

Ben Hood

Joan Allen

Elena Hood

Henry Czerny

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The Ice Storm: Trailer 1

2:30

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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

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