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Young Adam

Play trailer Poster for Young Adam NC-17 Released May 16, 2003 1h 38m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
62% Tomatometer 124 Reviews 49% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
An amoral drifter (Ewan McGregor) has an affair with a woman (Tilda Swinton) stuck in a passionless marriage in 1950s Scotland.
Young Adam

What to Know

Critics Consensus

A grim mood piece with good performances from the leads.

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Critics Reviews

View All (124) Critics Reviews
Neil Norman London Evening Standard A grim, intelligent and fiercely compelling film. Jan 11, 2018 Full Review Alexander Walker London Evening Standard The author of the book on which it is based, Alexander Trocchi, who died a heroin addict, was once tipped to be the Scottish William Burroughs, and the film conveys his malignant view of life pretty accurately. Jan 10, 2018 Full Review Empire Magazine Rated: 4/5 Dec 30, 2006 Full Review Leigh Paatsch Herald Sun (Australia) Amidst all the dropping of troosers and unbuttoning of blooses, there might well be a story going on, but you will be hard-pressed to follow it for long. Rated: 1.5/5 Sep 11, 2020 Full Review Richard von Busack MetroActive Watching this film, one gets the sense of a once-arresting book that couldn't get arrested today. Rated: 2.5/5 Mar 27, 2014 Full Review Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com nudity is perhaps the only intriguing element in this ponderous and torpid story about Joe (McGregor), a young drifter who takes work on a barge operated by a husband and wife (Peter Mullan and Tilda Swinton) after the mysterious death of his ex-girlfrien Rated: C May 5, 2009 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (417) audience reviews
Dave C A slow-burner, focused on the plodding aspects of industrial living, and the easy philandering of amoral characters, bored of their daily lot, seeking excitement in risks taken. The initially cool and amoral character, Adam, builds as we learn more about him, revealing an immoral, selfish, narcissistic and abusive person seemingly content moping, meandering, and moving around from one episode of sexual promiscuity to another. At the core of the story is an 'accident' that occurs with one of his previous partners, and the indifference he feels about what happened, gradually shifting to guilt and doubt as the fate of the accused unfolds. As we might expect, he dresses his cowardice and shame as something courageous and honest, but this has no impact on the outcome, and he defaults to his nomadic philandering and disappears after one more brief reflection Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/08/24 Full Review Gareth v A sluggish and grim movie that has a decent story to tell but gets lost amongst all the removing of clothes. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 06/20/23 Full Review peter s Not a movie as much as a suite of obsessive fantasies that are raw, crude and sexual in nature from a sadist. Disgusting and useless piece of dirt by a sad and dirty director. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Definitely didn't rile me up as much as I suspected it would. McGregor and Swinton are pretty sharp as usual and the film does exude the atmosphere of seaside Scotland. Those attributes carry the project. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review thomas l Strong performances from all four leads, does not offset an unsettling storyline with a disappointing ending that more closely mirrors the reality of today's society than anything Hollywood could come up with. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member This was a hard movie to watch. Other than the boy I don't know that there was on character you cared even a little bit about. The characters were all pretty disgusting. It was about 90 minutes but seemed so much longer. So why did I watch it? David Mackenzie, the director, did one of the year's best flims, Hell or High Water. This is the third movie of his I watched and it is interesting to see how he has evolved. Again I thankful for rental dvd Netflix who has such a catalog of movies. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Young Adam

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis An amoral drifter (Ewan McGregor) has an affair with a woman (Tilda Swinton) stuck in a passionless marriage in 1950s Scotland.
Director
David Mackenzie
Producer
Jeremy Thomas
Screenwriter
David Mackenzie, Alexander Trocchi
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co
Film Council, Scottish Screen
Rating
NC-17 (Some Disturbing Behavior|Language|Strong Sexual Content)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 16, 2003, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 1, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA)
$767.2K
Runtime
1h 38m
Sound Mix
Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Dolby Stereo, Surround