Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Solaris

Play trailer Poster for Solaris PG 1972 2h 49m Sci-Fi Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
92% Tomatometer 66 Reviews 89% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
A psychologist is sent to a space station orbiting a planet called Solaris to investigate the death of a doctor and the mental problems of cosmonauts on the station. He soon discovers that the water on the planet is a type of brain which brings out repressed memories and obsessions.
Watch on Fandango at Home Stream Now

Where to Watch

Solaris

Solaris

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Solaris is a haunting, meditative film that uses sci-fi to raise complex questions about humanity and existence.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
Mark Olsen Los Angeles Times 05/18/2017
The film has a hypnotic pull, drawing the viewer deeper and deeper into its enigmatic adventure by crafting a world all its own. Go to Full Review
Clayton Dillard Slant Magazine 05/06/2017
2.5/4
Andrei Tarkovsky's pacing is less moved by narrative detail than thematic and metaphorical suggestion. Go to Full Review
Richard Brody The New Yorker 06/16/2014
Tarkovsky's speculative visions enfold the mysteries of death and rebirth, the lost paradise of childhood, the power of art to define identity, the menace of science as destructive vanity ... Go to Full Review
JD Duran InSession Film 08/01/2024
A
The film's pacing will be a drudge for some audiences and perhaps Tarkovsky could have trimmed back a bit but the patience he demands has purpose. The imagery, details and spiritual beauty of this film will have a big payoff... Go to Full Review
Dave Giannini InSession Film 02/28/2024
A-
Tarkovsky, in this moment, and throughout the runtime, forces us to face the fact that we are so focused on our great triumphs, that we forget the people we have lost and where our focus should be. Go to Full Review
Eddie Harrison film-authority.com 08/31/2023
5/5
…as philosophical as sci-fi gets, Solaris is a meditation, deeply rewarding on a spiritual level… Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Hamza V Nov 7 Tarkovsky communicated more through visual language than dialogue. The cinematography is unbelievably good. The silence and ambiguity are almost haunting. The nerve-racking ending stays with you long after the credits roll. At times, some scenes might seem frustratingly mundane, but they have layers of meaning. It's almost as if each scene is a poem meant to be deciphered. Truly brilliant. See more Mikael H @Mikael590 Jun 12 The very last shot earned it an extra star. I am otherwise very close to calling it “unextraordinary”. That being said, my dissatisfaction with the film is not due to any lack of substance; rather its loaded with subtext and meaning but the surface narrative is like still water. Perhaps I prefer a film to primarily give me a story through which I can lend my own experience to its weight rather than lean so heavily on me to bring my own thoughts to it to lend it its life. The balance can be struck (Stalker being a better example) but in Solaris’ case, it was pretty flat. See more FEllo B May 28 Where is the download link for Solaris.exe? See more Esra Y Apr 10 If you let him, Tarkovsky's Solaris will take you to an intergalactical journey which makes you reconsider and question so much about humanity, existence and complexity of psychology. See more Abdirahman B Feb 9 I have too many questions after watching this rushian movie. These scientific and psychological concepts are completely new to me but I love it. See more Virgo V @vision Jan 4 Solaris (Solyaris) is a 1972 Soviet psychological science fiction film based on Stanisław Lem's 1961 novel of the same title. The film was co-written and directed by Andrei Tarkovsky and stars Donatas Banionis and Natalya Bondarchuk. The electronic music score was performed by Eduard Artemyev and features a composition by J.S. Bach as its main theme. The plot centers on a space station orbiting the fictional planet Solaris, where a scientific mission has stalled because the skeleton crew of three scientists have fallen into emotional crises. Psychologist Kris Kelvin (Banionis) travels to the station to evaluate the situation, only to encounter the same mysterious phenomena as the others. Solaris won the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Palme d'Or. It received critical acclaim and is often cited as one of the greatest science fiction films in the history of cinema. The film was Tarkovsky's attempt to bring greater emotional depth to science fiction films. He viewed most Western works in the genre, including the recently released 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), as shallow due to their focus on technological invention. Some of the ideas Tarkovsky expresses in this film are further developed in his film Stalker (1979). See more Read all reviews
Solaris

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
The Groundstar Conspiracy 38% 64% The Groundstar Conspiracy Watchlist Fantastic Voyage 91% 68% Fantastic Voyage Watchlist Colossus: The Forbin Project 90% 76% Colossus: The Forbin Project Watchlist The Black Hole 42% 46% The Black Hole Watchlist Looker 32% 42% Looker Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis A psychologist is sent to a space station orbiting a planet called Solaris to investigate the death of a doctor and the mental problems of cosmonauts on the station. He soon discovers that the water on the planet is a type of brain which brings out repressed memories and obsessions.
Director
Andrei Tarkovsky
Producer
Viacheslav Tarasov
Screenwriter
Fridrikh Gorenshteyn, Stanislaw Lem, Andrei Tarkovsky
Distributor
Image Entertainment Inc., Criterion Collection, Fox Lorber
Production Co
Unit Four
Rating
PG
Genre
Sci-Fi, Drama
Original Language
Russian
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 20, 1972, Wide
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
May 12, 2017
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 21, 2009
Runtime
2h 49m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
Most Popular at Home Now