Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Paris, Texas

Play trailer Poster for Paris, Texas R 1984 2h 25m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
95% Tomatometer 58 Reviews 93% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
A disheveled man who wanders out of the desert, Travis Henderson (Harry Dean Stanton) seems to have no idea who he is. When a stranger manages to contact his brother, Walt (Dean Stockwell), Travis is awkwardly reunited with his sibling. Travis has been missing for years, and his presence unsettles Walt and his family, which also includes Travis's own son, Hunter (Hunter Carson). Soon Travis must confront his wife, Jane (Nastassja Kinski), and try to put his life back together.
Watch on Fandango at Home Stream Now

Where to Watch

Paris, Texas

Paris, Texas

What to Know

Critics Consensus

A quiet yet deeply moving kind of Western, Paris, Texas captures a place and people like never before (or after).

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More (58)
Kevin Maher The Times (UK) The panoramic vistas from the cinematographer Robby Müller are as breathtaking as any John Ford western, while the naturalistic performances and deft narrative structure make this the strongest movie in the career of its director, Wim Wenders. Sep 14, 2023 Full Review Peter Bradshaw Guardian ... An eerie, sad story whose meaning disappears over the vast horizon as if on a highway heading away through the desert. Rated: 5/5 Jul 27, 2022 Full Review Joe Pollack St. Louis Post-Dispatch It's a striking, gripping film for most of its length, with Wenders and cinematographer Robby Muller showing a great love of and fascination for the land -- almost as if their European upbringings had made them slightly envious of the wide-open spaces. Oct 7, 2021 Full Review David Harris Spectrum Culture Sometimes, the best movies about America aren’t made by American directors. Feb 18, 2025 Full Review Chance Solem-Pfeifer Willamette Week Stanton—playing mute for the first act of Wim Wenders’ revered neo-Western—effectively authors the movie’s tone and pathos with his sorrowful, bottomless irises, right alongside Ry Cooder’s soul-quivering slide guitar score. Jan 22, 2025 Full Review Joshua Ryan FandomWire The cinematography, consisting of wide shots, vacant landscapes and minimalist imagery, gives Paris, Texas a distinct visual style that perfectly compliments the mysterious and emotional core of its story. Rated: 9/10 Jan 1, 2025 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More (1000+)
Nicholas M. Incredible movie, not at all what I thought it was going to be starting off and I can guess some people will find the pace slow at first but stick with it, the pay off at the end is worth it. Harry Dean Stanton gives the performance of a lifetime but the whole cast is great. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/08/25 Full Review Sapere A There are few movies that will wrench your guts that don’t feel manipulative. This is one of those very few. I will never shake the emotional grip Wenders still has on me because of this one movie. What an experience! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/31/25 Full Review Liam C There are films you watch, and there are films that haunt you. Paris, Texas belongs to the second category. It is not simply a story told on celluloid—it is a landscape of the soul, where the vastness of the desert mirrors the silence between people, and every frame feels like a prayer painted in light. And then there is that scene—the long, merciless monologue delivered through glass, where truth is finally spoken after years of silence. It unspools like a confession from a wound that never healed, a brutal cascade of words that trap you, hold you, and refuse to let go. The camera does not flinch, nor does the voice; together they demand you listen, they demand you feel. I sat transfixed, my breath suspended, as if the world outside the screen no longer existed. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/27/25 Full Review Alain E Remains one of my favorite movies ever. A narrative about lost opportunities and miscommunication when the two protagonists can reach each other only across a one way mirror in a seedy sex enterprise. Excellent color photography by Robby Mueller and music by Ry Cooder which sounds similar to the sou Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/03/25 Full Review john h An emotional road trip abetted with an emotional score. The film provides strong themes of family and belonging when a father (Harry Dean Stanton) searches for the missing mother (Nastassja Kinski) of his child. Wim Wenders is able to deliver a touching, well regarded road genre masterpiece that has touched the teary spots of many. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 06/02/25 Full Review Enrique P Overrated. Beautiful cinematography but that can't carry a dull movie that makes me want to fall asleep. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 05/18/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Paris, Texas

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
Less Than Zero 48% 63% Less Than Zero Watchlist Wall Street 79% 81% Wall Street Watchlist Brubaker 74% 74% Brubaker Watchlist Rumble Fish 77% 80% Rumble Fish Watchlist Under the Volcano 74% 71% Under the Volcano Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis A disheveled man who wanders out of the desert, Travis Henderson (Harry Dean Stanton) seems to have no idea who he is. When a stranger manages to contact his brother, Walt (Dean Stockwell), Travis is awkwardly reunited with his sibling. Travis has been missing for years, and his presence unsettles Walt and his family, which also includes Travis's own son, Hunter (Hunter Carson). Soon Travis must confront his wife, Jane (Nastassja Kinski), and try to put his life back together.
Director
Wim Wenders
Producer
Don Guest, Anatole Dauman
Screenwriter
L.M. Kit Carson, Sam Shepard
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
20th Century Fox
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 18, 1984, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 23, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$236.0K
Runtime
2h 25m
Most Popular at Home Now