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Naked Lunch

Play trailer Poster for Naked Lunch R Released Dec 27, 1991 1h 55m Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
73% Tomatometer 40 Reviews 77% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Blank-faced bug killer Bill Lee (Peter Weller) and his dead-eyed wife, Joan (Judy Davis), like to get high on Bill's pest poisons while lounging with Beat poet pals. After meeting the devilish Dr. Benway (Roy Scheider), Bill gets a drug made from a centipede. Upon indulging, he accidentally kills Joan, takes orders from his typewriter-turned-cockroach, ends up in a constantly mutating Mediterranean city and learns that his hip friends have published his work -- which he doesn't remember writing.
Naked Lunch

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Strange, maddening, and at times incomprehensible, Naked Lunch is nonetheless an engrossing experience.

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Critics Reviews

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Steve Murray Atlanta Journal-Constitution Elegantly perverse and as black as comedy gets, the film is like a sick joke served on a silver platter. Sep 23, 2025 Full Review Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader What emerges is recognizable but fully transformed Burroughs material. Rated: 4/4 May 26, 2022 Full Review David Ansen Newsweek Obviously this is not everybody's cup of weird tea: you must have a taste for the esthetics of disgust. For those up to the dare, it's one clammily compelling movie. Mar 31, 2008 Full Review Joe Lipsett Anatomy of a Scream Podcast Network A challenging film to engage with if you're unfamiliar with the life and work of William S. Burroughs. Visually it's very surreal and fantastical (the typewriters!), but narratively it doesn't come together in a satisfying way. Rated: 2.5/5 Apr 18, 2024 Full Review Howard Waldstein CBR The book is, in many ways screed against conformity, and an ode to consciousness. The film, which is much easier to follow, is as much a tribute to the author who wrote the book as it is an attempt to make some sense of the slippery narrative. Jun 27, 2023 Full Review Rob Gonsalves Rob's Movie Vault A remarkably lucid and enjoyable riff on an unfilmable (some say unreadable) book. Rated: A- Aug 31, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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john h A creative adaptation of Burrough's novel of the same name. Naked Lunch is a repulsive, disgusting and sometimes beautiful experience to share in a theater during its most frightening Cronenberg moments. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 06/05/25 Full Review Gideon L I hate this movie so much, I love it again. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/22/24 Full Review Sutil S Just... seriously. What an amazing film! When I first saw it as a 20 year old film buff kid, in film school I thought it was an ok cool movie that was weird made by a director I liked and a writer I thought I knew and liked but 20 years later I'm 40 and re watched this Masterpiece! And it clicked in so many ways it didn't back then even though I thought I got it... but now it was an amazing experience to see the struggles of a drug addicted writer portrayed on screen as a noir style fantasy mystery... it's just brilliant beyond brilliant... that ending... ooozing of so much meaning Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/25/23 Full Review KB B This was such a bizarre, stupid movie. Don't bother with this one. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 12/14/23 Full Review David W Bizarre and surreal are apt descriptions of Naked Lunch. It leans into its alternate reality feel well and offers an entertaining story the viewer happily follows. I would watch this again. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/24/24 Full Review Shaeffer C Even after I've watched the movie I'm still not sure I've seen it. I'm not sure whether to give it .5 stars or 4.5 stars. You'll either love it or hate it or both. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Naked Lunch

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Cast & Crew

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David Cronenberg

Director

Peter Weller

Bill Lee

Judy Davis

Joan Frost

Ian Holm

Tom Frost

Julian Sands

Yves Cloquet

Roy Scheider

Doctor Benway

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Naked Lunch

Naked Lunch (1991) Naked Lunch (1991) Naked Lunch (1991) Naked Lunch (1991) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Blank-faced bug killer Bill Lee (Peter Weller) and his dead-eyed wife, Joan (Judy Davis), like to get high on Bill's pest poisons while lounging with Beat poet pals. After meeting the devilish Dr. Benway (Roy Scheider), Bill gets a drug made from a centipede. Upon indulging, he accidentally kills Joan, takes orders from his typewriter-turned-cockroach, ends up in a constantly mutating Mediterranean city and learns that his hip friends have published his work -- which he doesn't remember writing.
Director
David Cronenberg
Producer
Jeremy Thomas
Screenwriter
David Cronenberg, William Lee
Distributor
Criterion Collection, 20th Century Fox
Production Co
Recorded Picture Company (RPC)
Rating
R
Genre
Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 27, 1991, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$2.2M
Runtime
1h 55m
Sound Mix
Surround, Stereo