Metropolitan

Play trailer

Metropolitan

PG-13

Released Aug 3, 1990

1h 38m

Comedy

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

45 Reviews

84%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

A radical student is adopted by a group of young New Yorkers, serves as a catalyst to alter his and their lives. Gathering in a Manhattan apartment, the group of friends meet to discuss social mobility, Fourier's socialism and play bridge in their cocoon of upper-class society - until they are joined by a man with a critical view of their way of life.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

Metropolitan gently skewers the young socialite class with a smartly written dramedy whose unique, specific setting yields rich universal truths.

Read Critics Reviews

Christopher Orr

The Atlantic

Stillman sketches his characters with gentle humor, capturing not only their foibles and foolishnesses but the earnest intentions behind them.

Jun 15, 2020

Full Review

Jonathan Romney

Film Comment Magazine

Metropolitan is a melancholic lament for not-quite-doomed youth-a self-styled new "lost generation" that isn't really lost, but might just never have a purpose.

Jun 15, 2020

Full Review

Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

Stillman hasn't made as hermetically appealing a movie since, but for those lamenting the absence of the written word in modern comedy - rather than the improvisationally blurted-out kind - "Metropolitan" makes for delightful memory-lane viewing.

Aug 13, 2015

Full Review

Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

…long on beautifully observed conversation and unrequited romance, Whit Stillman's Metropolitan is a gentle examination of love amongst the chattering classes with a heady mixture of laughs and muted pathos…

Rated: 5/5

Jul 21, 2025

Full Review

Chance Solem-Pfeifer

Willamette Week

Metropolitan is impossibly funny, equal parts playful and contemptuous.

May 1, 2025

Full Review

Terry Francis

Southern Voice (Atlanta)

The writer-director Whit Stillman achieves a rarified atmosphere in his first film: the intellectual and social interaction among a group of Park Avenue socialites during the Christmas debutante season.

Rated: 3.5/4

May 9, 2023

Full Review

Read all reviews

Alec B

Yeah its definitely mocking a very particular set of New York elites but it also takes them seriously as people which makes the comedy more effective.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/10/24

Full Review

S R

Some good dialogue and some interesting takes on the rich High Schoolers in NYC, but not one for the ages. Saw on TCM.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

05/09/23

Full Review

Audience Member

105 minutes of wealthy children talk about their own privilege? Trite.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/26/23

Full Review

Steve D

Perhaps the greatest film lampooning the upper-class I have ever seen.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

David K

I hear the accolades. I don't get it. The acting is about amateurish as you can get. Stilted delivery. If this is worthy of a 93 rating, maybe I should go into acting.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/24/22

Full Review

Russ G

Starts off boring and gets worse with each minute of running time; finally there's a forced "ending." Not just pretentious tripe; it's performed by a bunch of incompetent amateurs.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

12/25/24

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Whit Stillman

Director

Carolyn Farina

Audrey Rouget

Edward Clements

Tom Townsend

Chris Eigeman

Nick Smith

Taylor Nichols

Charlie Black

Allison Parisi

Jane Clark

The Nasty Girl

57%

75%

The Nasty Girl

Watchlist

Coupe de Ville

25%

72%

Coupe de Ville

Watchlist

Men Don't Leave

83%

62%

Men Don't Leave

Watchlist

Crimes and Misdemeanors

92%

91%

Crimes and Misdemeanors

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

A radical student is adopted by a group of young New Yorkers, serves as a catalyst to alter his and their lives. Gathering in a Manhattan apartment, the group of friends meet to discuss social mobility, Fourier's socialism and play bridge in their cocoon of upper-class society - until they are joined by a man with a critical view of their way of life.

Director: Whit Stillman
Producer: Whit Stillman
Screenwriter: Whit Stillman
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Production Co: Westerly Films
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 3, 1990, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Aug 7, 2015
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 17, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $21.7K
Runtime: 1h 38m

Most Popular at Home Now