Night on Earth

Play trailer

Night on Earth

R

Released May 2, 1992

2h 8m

Comedy

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

77%

Tomatometer

26 Reviews

91%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

This film presents five stories, each involving a cab ride and set in a different city around the world. In Los Angeles, no-nonsense taxi driver Corky (Winona Ryder) gets an engaging customer in the form of a Hollywood casting agent (Gena Rowlands), while a Parisian cabbie (Isaach de Bankolé) must contend with some rowdy African diplomats. Among the other tales, a standout is the Italian taxi ride that finds quirky driver Gino (Roberto Benigni) making a lively confession to an ailing priest.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Derek Smith

Slant Magazine

Throughout, Jim Jarmusch playfully blurs the line between driver/passenger, servant/customer, and native/immigrant.

May 12, 2017

Full Review

Geoff Andrew

Time Out

Though it may take a while to get Jarmusch's gist, hang in there; by the time Tom Waits growls his lovely closing waltz over the credits, Jarmusch has shown us moments most filmmakers don't even notice.

Jan 26, 2006

Full Review

Vincent Canby

New York Times

With this, his fourth commercially released feature, Mr. Jarmusch again demonstrates his mastery of comedy of the oblique.

Rated: 3.5/5

May 20, 2003

Full Review

Bob Shelton

Birmingham Post

An entertaining mixed bag. It may be weak on plot, but the characters are memorable.

Jul 31, 2024

Full Review

Tim Brayton

Alternate Ending

Jarmusch at his most curious about humans but also his most sedate as a filmmaker.

Rated: 3/5

Oct 24, 2022

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

As expected, the quality of the individual vignettes varies, though only one is an out-and-out drag.

Rated: 3/4

Apr 24, 2019

Full Review

Read all reviews

Kevin L

Three engaging, cleverly written segments that play out like short films with a similar theme, and two I could've done without. I enjoyed the first three, esp. the ones in NY and Paris. Ryder did not exactly hold her own w/ the brilliant Rowlands. Muller-Stahl, Perez and Esposito were tremendous together. It was like Buggin' Out years later in a cab to Brooklyn, w/ Tina. In Paris, de Bankolé and Dalle were great, too. Two people who have no doubt both had to do their share of fighting in their lives. The Rome section started off fine w/ Benigni being manic Benigni. Not sure how much of the dialogue w/ Jarmusch and how much was him off the cuff. But then the non-bishop got in and it kinda lost me. The last one in Helsinki was just a drag. 3.3 stars

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

06/19/25

Full Review

john h

Night on Earth is Jim Jarmusch's most critically magnum-opus-close film, pulling all his creativity and talent into one framework of formal filmmaking. The arrangement of the anthological story and independent characters hook fans and regular goers within moments of Winona Ryder and Gene Rowlands' chemistry.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/03/25

Full Review

Dušan A

Great concept of combining the 5 short stories together

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/13/24

Full Review

Audience Member

I watched it long time ago. the story is really interesting. this is kinda movie if you wanna relax and enjoy

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/01/24

Full Review

Sams K

A mix of different stories, but I'm disappointed, I was very excited watching the first scene but then it faded away. I liked very much the blind girl scene, interesting. I'm not saying it's bad, it's a decent one with some good points, but I was really expecting something better. The last scene it's good, it's clear that Nouvelle Vague cinema inspired this one.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/28/24

Full Review

Steve D

A mixed bag of stories but entertaining enough.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/29/24

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Jim Jarmusch

Director

Winona Ryder

Corky

Gena Rowlands

Victoria Snelling

Giancarlo Esposito

YoYo

Armin Mueller-Stahl

Helmut Grokenberger

Rosie Perez

Angela

The Young Poisoner's Handbook

87%

84%

The Young Poisoner's Handbook

Watchlist

Mystery Train

89%

87%

Mystery Train

Watchlist

Hangin' With the Homeboys

93%

68%

Hangin' With the Homeboys

Watchlist

Stranger Than Paradise

100%

88%

Stranger Than Paradise

Watchlist

Wild at Heart

66%

81%

Wild at Heart

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

This film presents five stories, each involving a cab ride and set in a different city around the world. In Los Angeles, no-nonsense taxi driver Corky (Winona Ryder) gets an engaging customer in the form of a Hollywood casting agent (Gena Rowlands), while a Parisian cabbie (Isaach de Bankolé) must contend with some rowdy African diplomats. Among the other tales, a standout is the Italian taxi ride that finds quirky driver Gino (Roberto Benigni) making a lively confession to an ailing priest.

Director: Jim Jarmusch
Producer: Jim Jarmusch
Screenwriter: Jim Jarmusch
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Production Co: Pandora Cinema
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 2, 1992, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 22, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.0M
Runtime: 2h 8m
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo

Most Popular at Home Now