Repulsion (1965)
90%RT Audience Score: 86%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
2 wins & 4 nominations total
Roman Polanski’s first English film follows a schizophrenic woman’s descent into madness, and makes the audience feel as claustrophobic as the character.
Repulsion is the kind of movie that will make you want to sleep with the lights on for a week. It’s a psychological thriller that expertly shows the warped world created from a single point of view. Catherine Deneuve’s performance is so unsettling that you’ll forget she grew into such a confident screen presence. And let’s not forget the gurgling, soapy sound of muffed intentions going down the plug hole like bath water. It’s not for the faint of heart, but if you’re up for a deeply disturbing, hallucinatory trip, Repulsion is the movie for you. Just don’t blame us if you can’t sleep afterwards.
Production Company(ies)
Svensk Filmindustri
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Thurloe Place, South Kensington, London, England, UK
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
1965
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.66 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Feb 8, 2005
Genre(s)
Horror
Keyword(s)
starring Catherine Deneuve, Yvonne Furneaux, Ian Hendry, John Fraser, Patrick Wymark, James Villiers, directed by Roman Polanski, written by Roman Polanski, Gérard Brach, David Stone, horror, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Andrew Sarris, Peter John Dyer, Derek Malcolm, David Jenkins, Peter Bradshaw, Tim Robey, Pauline Kael, Dwight MacDonald, Wendy Michener, Simon Miraudo, Tom Hutchinson, produced by Gene Gutowski, MPAA rating, rophobia, schizophrenia, hallucinations, mental breakdown, psychological thriller, British film, Carole Ledoux, Helene Ledoux, Michael, Colin, Landlord, John, mono sound mix, 35mm aspect ratio
Worldwide gross: $33,174
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $353,982
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,820
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 38,602
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Yvonne Furneaux – Helene Ledoux
Ian Hendry – Michael
John Fraser – Colin
Patrick Wymark – Landlord
James Villiers – John
Director(s)
Roman Polanski
Writer(s)
Roman Polanski, Gérard Brach, David Stone
Producer(s)
Gene Gutowski
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
2 wins & 4 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (65) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (62) | Rotten (3)
Repulsion is the scariest if not actually the goriest Grand Guignol since Psycho.
July 27, 2021
Andrew Sarris
Village Voice
TOP CRITIC
The rest of the film has that gurgling, soapy sound of muffed intentions going down the plug hole like bath water.
March 31, 2020
Peter John Dyer
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
Deneuve, as the woman whose fear of sexual contact is at the base of her neurosis, has seldom been less like her icy self.
January 4, 2013 | Rating: 4/5
Derek Malcolm
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
A film that expertly shows without ever telling, even while the symbolism is a mite heavy handed.
January 3, 2013 | Rating: 4/5
David Jenkins
Little White Lies
TOP CRITIC
There can’t be many other films which so plausibly show an entire, warped world created from a single point of view.
January 3, 2013 | Rating: 5/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
It’s been an inspiration ever since for films about claustrophobic hysteria, but not necessarily in a good way …
January 3, 2013 | Rating: 3/5
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Were we supposed to have found it entertaining? There’s more horror latent in this notion of the movie audience than in the film itself.
February 27, 2020
Pauline Kael
Vogue
The purest exercise in homicidal mania yet made, and the most singleminded.
August 14, 2019
Dwight MacDonald
Esquire Magazine
Repulsion is far more shocking, in fact, than anything Hitchcock ever made, because it can produce in the spectator the added shock of self-recognition, the hallmark of a real artwork.
June 27, 2019
Wendy Michener
Maclean’s Magazine
How much one remains held by all this probably depends on how much one is interested by the case-book aspect of Carol’s story, but at least there are ample visual compensations.
March 16, 2015
MFB Critics
Monthly Film Bulletin
The young Catherine Deneuve (she was 22 at the time of filming) gives a performance so unsettling and so precise, I can barely believe she grew into such a confident screen presence.
October 21, 2014 | Rating: 4.5/5
Simon Miraudo
Quickflix
Roman Polanski takes us on a deeply disturbing, hallucinatory trip into Catherine Deneuve’s mental breakdown in this British psychological thriller,
October 6, 2013 | Rating: 5/5
Tom Hutchinson
Radio Times…
Plot
In London, Belgian immigrant Carol Ledoux shares an apartment with her older sister Helen, and works as a manicurist at a beauty salon. Helen uses the word “sensitive” to describe Carol’s overall demeanor, which is almost like she walks around in a daze, rarely speaking up about anything. When she does speak up, it generally is about something against one of those few issues on which she obsesses, such as Helen’s boyfriend Michael’s invasion of her space at the apartment. That specific issue may be more about men in general than just Michael’s actions, as witnessed by Carol being agitated by hearing Helen and Michael’s lovemaking, and she not being able to rebuff the advances effectively of a male suitor, Colin, who is infatuated with her. One of those other obsessive issues is noticing cracks and always wanting to fix them. While Helen and Michael leave on a vacation to Pisa, Italy, Carol chooses largely to lock herself in the apartment, ditching work. There, she is almost hypnotized by her solitude, which leads to her mental state deteriorating as those obsessions come to the fore. She quickly descends into madness, which ultimately also affects those that are trying to get in touch with her.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The young Catherine Deneuve gives a performance so unsettling and so precise, I can barely believe she grew into such a confident screen presence.
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