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Paris, Texas

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Paris, Texas

R

Released Nov 18, 1984

2h 25m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

95%

Tomatometer

59 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.

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Critics Consensus

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

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Kevin Maher

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

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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

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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

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David Harris

Spectrum Culture

Sometimes, the best movies about America aren’t made by American directors.

Feb 18, 2025

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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

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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

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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

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Oczodół Ś

How memories and man's life in civilisation work? How different needs are imposed and strengthen, when living in the city? Clothes, cars or even sexual desires. How a father looks like? What does it mean to become a father - it's better observed in an abstract situation of enacting it again. Personal and familly history - how few details can be extremely important? When talking about deep emotional issues concerning past present and future - we talk in our small rooms. There is symbolic glass between us. To see another person we'd better dim our personal environment. Which direction we speak - makes the difference. Not sure what to do with the ending. What kind of a man is Travis there? His future looks? Probably today we would be more curious about the "day after", mundane way of dealing with those existential questions daily.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/09/25

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Insomniac X

Wim Wenders and Sam Shepard bring deep undercurrents of emotion to the desolate landscapes of the American west in this family drama. Cinematographer Robby Müller's stunning compositions and lavish use of color contrast with the film's themes and images of separation and loneliness. The film's road-based first act is a clear precursor to 1988's "Rain Man."

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/25/25

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David F

While I loved the neon and the Western landscapes, the story and the characters were a little muddled and maybe too overtly mysterious to hold my interest. This film has a great style but the story or the characters needed to be a little bit more interesting for the film to completely succeed.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/20/25

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Daniel B

Strange but interesting.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/22/25

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Fer S

Fantastic movie. It is slow though! At times it felt like it was made by David Lynch

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/30/25

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Wim Wenders

Director

Harry Dean Stanton

Travis

Nastassja Kinski

Jane

Dean Stockwell

Walt

Aurore Clément

Anne Henderson

Hunter Carson

Hunter

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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

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