☰
Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

Play trailer 2:01 Poster for Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events PG 2004 1h 47m Kids & Family Comedy Fantasy Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
72% Tomatometer 158 Reviews 63% Popcornmeter 250,000+ Ratings
After the three young Baudelaire siblings are left orphaned by a fire in their mansion, they are carted off to live with their distant relative, Count Olaf (Jim Carrey). Unfortunately, Olaf is a cruel, scheming man only after the inheritance that the eldest Baudelaire, Violet (Emily Browning), is set to receive. The children escape and find shelter with their quirky Uncle Monty (Billy Connolly) and, subsequently, their phobic Aunt Josephine (Meryl Streep), but Olaf is never far behind.
Watch on Fandango at Home Stream Now

Where to Watch

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Although it softens the nasty edges of its source material, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is a gothic visual treat, and it features a hilariously manic turn from Jim Carrey as the evil Count Olaf.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More (158)
Hank Sartin Chicago Reader Episodic but entertaining. Nov 15, 2011 Full Review Nell Minow Common Sense Media Book's fans will enjoy, but too creepy for some. Rated: 3/5 Dec 25, 2010 Full Review Derek Adams Time Out It's all a bit superficial, but highly entertaining, wickedly funny, and alluring enough to make you want to start reading the books. Jun 24, 2006 Full Review Joe Lipsett Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr Podcast Carrey is just playing Carrey (which is great if you like him and obnoxious if you don't), but the child actors are solid, and the costumes, make-up and art direction are outstanding Rated: 3/5 Oct 15, 2024 Full Review Kevin Carr Fat Guys at the Movies This film is endlessly dark and gloomy for a kids story. But somehow, it works. Rated: 4/5 Jan 17, 2016 Full Review Garth Franklin Dark Horizons Whilst the direction and script seem off, the rest of the production work is excellent. Jul 6, 2010 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More (1000+)
Oaklee D A fun yet incredibly creepy film that feels like something that would be at home in Tim Burtons filmography, Jim Carrey makes this film even better with his over the top performance. Definitely worth a watch, although it may be too scary for some children. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/30/25 Full Review Kat S I absolutely love this movie, and have loved it ever since I was a kid! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/28/25 Full Review Tom H Jim Carrey is brilliant! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/26/25 Full Review Glynnis E My favorite. Rewatched on May 16-18, 2025. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/18/25 Full Review Audience Member They should make more movies like this Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/09/25 Full Review Obi-Wan K The first 3 ASOUE books were asapted in this movie. With a duration of 1 hour and 40 minutes, this film didn't manage to cover really important parts of the books, the main plot, the personalities of the characters and its direction is litterally inspired by the medieval era, while the original plot was set in the late 20th century. Jim Carrey plays excellantly....well.., himself, and misses the tone of the series by making Count Olaf an old man who does dinosaur noises spontainiously. The casting is not that bad and Meryl Streep, even though being maybe the only good thing about this movie has to put up with her character's awful writing, since the director took every bad thing about book Josephine, and applied it to Mrs Streep's performance. P.S. I dont want to talk about the references to VFD in this movie because it will make me want to lower my rating half a star. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/02/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All

Brad Silberling

Director

Jim Carrey

Count Olaf

Liam Aiken

Klaus Baudelaire

Emily Browning

Violet Baudelaire

Kara Hoffman

Sunny

Shelby Hoffman

Sunny

More Like This

View All
Sky High 74% 57% Sky High Watchlist Nim's Island 51% 46% Nim's Island Watchlist Night at the Museum 42% 67% Night at the Museum Watchlist TRAILER for Night at the Museum Bedtime Stories 27% 55% Bedtime Stories Watchlist Mirror Mirror 50% 50% Mirror Mirror Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Trailer 1 Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Trailer 1 2:01 Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Official Clip - The Baudelaire Children Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Official Clip - The Baudelaire Children 1:59 Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Official Clip - Hurricane Herman Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Official Clip - Hurricane Herman 1:59 Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Official Clip - We're Too Late Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Official Clip - We're Too Late 2:13 Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Official Clip - Aunt Josephine Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Official Clip - Aunt Josephine 1:53 Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Official Clip - The Letter That Never Came Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Official Clip - The Letter That Never Came 2:07 View more videos
View All

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

A scene from the Film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events starring JIM CARREY A scene from the Film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events starring JIM CARREY A scene from the Film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events starring JIM CARREY A scene from the Film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events starring JIM CARREY A scene from the Film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events starring JIM CARREY A scene from the Film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events starring JIM CARREY A scene from the Film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events starring JIM CARREY A scene from the Film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events starring JIM CARREY A scene from the Film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events starring JIM CARREY A scene from the Film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events starring JIM CARREY View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis After the three young Baudelaire siblings are left orphaned by a fire in their mansion, they are carted off to live with their distant relative, Count Olaf (Jim Carrey). Unfortunately, Olaf is a cruel, scheming man only after the inheritance that the eldest Baudelaire, Violet (Emily Browning), is set to receive. The children escape and find shelter with their quirky Uncle Monty (Billy Connolly) and, subsequently, their phobic Aunt Josephine (Meryl Streep), but Olaf is never far behind.
Director
Brad Silberling
Producer
Albie Hecht, Laurie MacDonald, Walter F. Parkes
Screenwriter
Robert Gordon, Daniel Handler
Distributor
DreamWorks SKG
Production Co
Scott Rudin Productions, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, DreamWorks SKG
Rating
PG (Scary Situations|Brief Language|Thematic Elements)
Genre
Kids & Family, Comedy, Fantasy, Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 17, 2004, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jun 6, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$118.6M
Runtime
1h 47m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.37:1)
Most Popular at Home Now