The Millionaire

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2:05

The Millionaire

R

2009

2h 0m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

92%

Tomatometer

287 Reviews

90%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

As 18-year-old Jamal Malik answers questions on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," flashbacks show how he got there. Part of a stable of young thieves after their mother dies, Jamal and his brother, Salim, survive on the streets of Mumbai. Salim finds the life of crime agreeable, but Jamal scrapes by with small jobs until landing a spot on the game show.

Critics Consensus

Visually dazzling and emotionally resonant, Slumdog Millionaire is a film that's both entertaining and powerful.

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Shubhra Gupta

The Indian Express

Jan 27, 2018

It's not about poverty pornography. It's not about a White guy showing us touchy Brown-skins squatting by the rail-tracks. In the end, it's just about a film, which sweeps you up and takes you for an exhilarating ride on the wild side.

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Geoffrey Macnab

Independent (UK)

Feb 22, 2015

4/5

Slumdog Millionaire is an exhilarating ride -- a feel-good yarn about a Mumbai street kid directed by Danny Boyle with a wild energy that makes even Trainspotting (Boyle's calling card) look leaden-footed.

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Ryan Gilbey

New Statesman

Feb 22, 2015

There are so many frantic pursuits through heaving streets that it is easy to lose track of who is chasing whom, or why. Energy and urgency are substituted for realism.

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Rachel Wagner

Rachel's Reviews (YouTube)

Mar 13, 2026

One of my favorite best picture winners

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Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

Sep 11, 2025

4/5

Danny Boyle manages to take a narrative that would be forgettable in lesser hands, with his technical prowess taking the experience to new heights.

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Mar 7, 2024

4/4

Danny Boyle has mastered the modern fairy tale. Eliminating fantasy from the equation and finding magic in the everyday, he’s grounded the dreamy storybook experience with realistic settings and circumstances that don’t diminish the fateful exhilaration

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D B

@Honor Aug 31, 2026

A real stunning hard at times to watch movie. But extremely well done. Well worth your time!!!!!

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Michael D

@MichaelX Aug 14, 2026

I recently compiled a list of Best Picture Oscar winners from 2000 to the present, a useful gap-filling exercise, and discovered only three we’d somehow never seen and "Slumdog Millionaire" was the chosen one on a recent weekend. Danny Boyle’s 2009 eight-Oscar juggernaut remains as propulsive and thrilling as advertised, a breathless adventure through the slums and cityscapes of Mumbai told in the dazzling nonlinear structure of a game show flashback. Dev Patel is extraordinary in his debut, and A.R. Rahman’s score remains a great soundtrack of its era. Watching it now, I kept marveling at how far India has come in its development, though surely there’s more road ahead. India has long been on our travel list; though six months in Dhaka gave me a satisfying taste of South Asia for now, and we’ll get there eventually. This is highly recommended, even lo these many years later.

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Lincoln L

@Linkolnbio2 Jul 14, 2026

It's felt like watching the notebook but Indian

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Judah S.

@Judah3963 May 31, 2026

As entertaining and fun this movie was it also had a powerful and emotional plot that despite some hard to watch scenes paid off in the end. Although its story of survival may have been powerful its love story missed the mark, it missed the powerful parts that makes other romance/drama movies beautiful and ended up being more of a side part than it seemed like it was trying to be.

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Aaron H

@AHallKnowsAll May 17, 2026

This is the worst movie I’ve EVER seen! Completely unwatchable!

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David C

@Broomcorns May 6, 2026

This is the last truly great movie for me. Let's take a look at the list of best pictures since then. This is the one I enjoy the most. It's a magical tale in a love story. It wasn't what I expected. It was much more than that.

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Synopsis

As 18-year-old Jamal Malik answers questions on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," flashbacks show how he got there. Part of a stable of young thieves after their mother dies, Jamal and his brother, Salim, survive on the streets of Mumbai. Salim finds the life of crime agreeable, but Jamal scrapes by with small jobs until landing a spot on the game show.

Director: Danny Boyle
Producer: Christian Colson
Screenwriter: Simon Beaufoy
Distributor: Fox
Production Co: Celador Productions, Film 4
Rating: R (Language|Disturbing Images|Some Violence)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 23, 2009, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 18, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $141.3M
Runtime: 2h 0m

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