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Young Adam

Play trailer Poster for Young Adam NC-17 2003 1h 38m Crime Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
62% Tomatometer 123 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

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Neil Norman London Evening Standard 01/11/2018
A grim, intelligent and fiercely compelling film. Go to Full Review
Alexander Walker London Evening Standard 01/10/2018
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. Go to Full Review
Bill Muller Arizona Republic 06/10/2004
3/5
Whether you're talking about Young Adam the movie or young Adam the character, neither is very likable. Go to Full Review
Leigh Paatsch Herald Sun (Australia) 09/11/2020
1.5/5
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. Go to Full Review
Richard von Busack MetroActive 03/27/2014
2.5/5
Watching this film, one gets the sense of a once-arresting book that couldn't get arrested today. Go to Full Review
Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com 05/05/2009
C
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 Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Dave C 08/08/2024 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 See more Gareth v 06/20/2023 A sluggish and grim movie that has a decent story to tell but gets lost amongst all the removing of clothes. See more peter s 06/17/2022 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. See more @ExcessMale 05/14/2022 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. See more thomas l 07/12/2019 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. See more 12/09/2016 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. See more Read all reviews
Young Adam

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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
Alexander Trocchi
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co
Film Council, Scottish Screen
Rating
NC-17 (Some Disturbing Behavior|Language|Strong Sexual Content)
Genre
Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
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