Beloved (1998)
76%RT Audience Score: 71%
Awards & Nominations: NA
A powerful, emotional and successful film adaptation of the original novel
Beloved is a movie that will make you feel all the emotions. It’s like a rollercoaster ride, but instead of loops and drops, you get heart-wrenching pain and haunting nightmares. But don’t worry, it’s worth it. Oprah Winfrey gives a stunning performance as Sethe, and the movie’s exploration of the private agonies of slavery is both daring and provocative. Plus, there’s a touch of horror-mystery that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall, Beloved is a masterfully scripted conundrum that will leave you thinking long after the credits roll.
Production Company(ies)
1+2 Seisaku Iinkai Atom Films, Atom Films,
Distributor
Buena Vista Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
Year of Release
1998
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby
-
Aspect ratio:NA
-
Runtime:2h 52m
-
Language(s):
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 16, 1998 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 14, 2003
Genre(s)
History/Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise, Beah Richards, LisaGay Hamilton, directed by Jonathan Demme, written by Toni Morrison, Akosua Busia, Richard LaGravenese, Adam Brooks, History, Drama, R, Buena Vista Pictures, $22.8M, reviewed by Elvis Mitchell, Ann Hornaday, Ella Taylor, Rene Rodriguez, Jack Mathews, Terry Lawson, Alison Macor, Eleanor O’Sullivan, produced by Jonathan Demme, Kate Forte, Gary Goetzman, Edward Saxon, Oprah Winfrey, MPAA rating R, slavery, haunted, poltergeist, supernatural, horror, family, ghosts, Toni Morrison novel, Pulitzer Prize-winning, slavery past, freedom, Ohio, Sethe, Baby Suggs, Grandma Baby, Young
Worldwide gross: $22,852,487
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: $22,852,487
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
Danny Glover – Paul D Garner
Thandiwe Newton – Beloved
Kimberly Elise – Denver
Beah Richards – Baby Suggs, aka Grandma Baby
LisaGay Hamilton – Younger Sethe
Director(s)
Jonathan Demme
Writer(s)
Toni Morrison, Akosua Busia, Richard LaGravenese, Adam Brooks
Producer(s)
Jonathan Demme, Kate Forte, Gary Goetzman, Edward Saxon, Oprah Winfrey
Film Festivals
Cannes
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (126) | Top Critics (53) | Fresh (90) | Rotten (36)
It’s a daring and provocative collection of ideas and heart that needed to be better, but still has something going for it.
February 2, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
Elvis Mitchell
Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com
TOP CRITIC
The result is an extraordinary film that is always hypnotically watchable, even as it presents the audience with scenes of harrowing pain.
February 2, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Ann Hornaday
Baltimore Sun
TOP CRITIC
Demme’s Beloved is permanently heated to the boil. Rightly so, for the terrain of Toni Morrisons magisterial novel, on which the movie is based, is not the politics of slavery but its private agonies, the torture of evil turned inward against the self.
February 2, 2022
Ella Taylor
L.A. Weekly
TOP CRITIC
Beloved overflows with passion and grace. It feels alive.
February 2, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald
TOP CRITIC
Though the fantasy element redone sparingly in the movie, they give it the feel of a good horror-mystery.
February 2, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/4
Jack Mathews
Newsday
TOP CRITIC
Beloved forces the audience to look at slavery the way Schindler’s List made it look at the Holocaust, and, if anything, it’s even harder to watch.
February 2, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press
TOP CRITIC
Beloved stumbles a bit during its first half-hour. The narrative smooths itself out, however, and finds a groove that makes the remaining 145 minutes barely noticeable. More important, the length proves absolutely essential in conveying Sethe’s story.
February 2, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Alison Macor
Austin American-Statesman
Demme is the right choice to direct Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel: He brings to the movie his humanism, his fascination with nature and the inexplicable, and his respect for actors. As Sethe, Winfrey has rare grace and strength.
February 2, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/4
Eleanor O’Sullivan
Asbury Park Press (NJ)
It’s been years since a movie literally gave me nightmares. But Beloved literally haunted me with bad dreams.
February 2, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)
The movie will be as haunting or irritating as your tolerance for bleak, serpentine storytelling will allow. It’s a masterfully scripted conundrum.
February 2, 2022 | Rating: A-
Steve Persall
Tampa Bay Times
As a cerebral ghost story and a bitter slice of history, Beloved is as hard a movie to watch as it is to shake off afterward.
February 2, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
Hap Erstein
Palm Beach Post
This is a horror movie that means something. This is Sophie’s Choice blended with The Exorcist.
February 2, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)…
Plot
In 1873 Ohio, a mother haunted by her slavery past and a poltergeist in her home is joined by an old friend who helps to drive out the spirit. However, their lives are further disrupted by the arrival of a mysterious woman named Beloved.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Oprah Winfrey gives a “100%” performance in Beloved, according to an audience review.
Jonathan-Demme.jpg
