Vertigo

PG

Now Playing

2 hr. 8 min.

Mystery & Thriller

List

92%

93 Reviews

Tomatometer

93%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Hitchcock's romantic story of obsession, manipulation and fear. A detective is forced to retire after his fear of heights causes the death of a fellow officer and the girl he was hired to follow. He sees a double of the girl, causing him to transform her image onto the dead girl's body. This leads into a cycle of madness and lies.

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Critics Consensus

An unpredictable scary thriller that doubles as a mournful meditation on love, loss, and human comfort.

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billybob 1

Its performances are much more real than others of the time--it never bores.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/27/24

Full Review

jason s

A masterpiece indeed. The use of color is amazing. Jimmy Stewart is masterful as well. The camera use here is absolutely stunning, and the views of sanfransisco are intoxicating. Suspense perfection!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/01/24

Full Review

Alec C

If you've got a fear of heights, then I don't recommend that you watch this movie! After an incident causes a former cop to suffer from a severe case of Acrophobia, he is asked to look into an old friends wife, who may be suffering from a delusion or something far worse. Hitchcock manages to make the feeling of vertigo a terrifying trip into the unknown and unexplained, making us all squeamish!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/28/24

Full Review

Ethan E

Great filmmaking from a technical standpoint, especially for its time, but the plot isn't so great with it dragging on and on with it being quite melodramatic. To say this is Hitchcock's Magnum Opus is over praising the film in my opinion

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/17/24

Full Review

Paul S

fair at best - I don't understand why this is considered a great movie. Slow paced, overly dramatic music, plot problems: using his vertigo as a plot device, the husband's overly complex ruse with minimal chance of working, and predictable but unrealistic ending. C plus or maybe B minus.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/25/24

Full Review

James G

Phonomenal score Phonomenal plot Hitchcock's best movie Great color scheme Overall my favorite movie

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/17/24

Full Review

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Alfred Hitchcock

Director

James Stewart

John "Scottie" Ferguson

Kim Novak

Madeleine Elster

Barbara Bel Geddes

Midge Wood

Tom Helmore

Gavin Elster

Henry Jones

Coroner

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Vertigo: Official Clip - Visiting the Past

3:13

Vertigo: Official Clip - Judy Becomes Madeleine

2:13

Vertigo: Official Clip - Judy Jumps

2:03

Vertigo: Official Clip - Don't Let Me Go

2:03

Vertigo: Official Clip - Officer Down

1:36

Vertigo: Official Clip - Scottie's Nightmare

1:28

Vertigo: Official Clip - The Bell Tower

2:22

Vertigo: Official Clip - Uncanny Resemblance

1:56

Vertigo: Official Clip - Wandering Together

2:18

Vertigo: Official Clip - Saving Madeleine

2:12

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Adam Kempenaar

Filmspotting

Once it switches over to us getting inside her head... I started seeing it more as Judy's story than Scottie's.

Rated: 4.5/5

Feb 9, 2024

Full Review

Jack Moffitt

Hollywood Reporter

Alfred Hitchcock tops his own fabulous record for suspense with Vertigo, a super-tale of murder, madness and mysticism that stars James Stewart and Kim Novak.

May 13, 2022

Full Review

Deborah Ross

The Spectator

The storytelling isn't up to much. It drags and drags.

May 18, 2020

Full Review

Sebastian Zavala Kahn

Me gusta el cine

It's a product of its time (especially when it comes to the treatment of the female characters), and it's not trying to be just a thriller. Rather, it is a story about a doomed romance that turns into a dangerous obsession. Full review in Spanish.

Rated: 4.5/5

Apr 17, 2023

Full Review

Zita Short

InSession Film

Novak feels like she was left out to dry by Hitchcock as he spent far more time paying attention to the location of the brooch on her lapel than he spent instructing her on how to convey her character’s emotions.

Feb 9, 2023

Full Review

Wesley Lovell

Cinema Sight

Vertigo is a film with numerous layers that can be discussed in depth and at length. That’s not to say it isn’t also an enjoyable film. Hitchcock knew how to make them. That’s why his films are generally beloved by critics and audiences alike.

Rated: 4/4

Nov 26, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

Hitchcock's romantic story of obsession, manipulation and fear. A detective is forced to retire after his fear of heights causes the death of a fellow officer and the girl he was hired to follow. He sees a double of the girl, causing him to transform her image onto the dead girl's body. This leads into a cycle of madness and lies.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenwriter: Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac, Samuel A. Taylor, Alec Coppel
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount Pictures, Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions
Rating: PG
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 9, 1958, Wide
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Oct 4, 1996
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 2, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.8M
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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