Crash (1996)
69%RT Audience Score: 61%
Awards & Nominations: 9 wins & 6 nominations
David Cronenberg’s Crash is a film that explores the depths of human desire and the dangerous consequences that come with it. With a fixation on the connection between sex and car accidents, the film takes viewers on a thrilling ride that is both weirdly hot and cold as ice. Cronenberg’s direction is immaculate, with every shot and scene contributing to the film’s central themes. While some may find the film ludicrous and repetitive, it remains admirably assured and true to itself. Veering fabulously across several intersections, between body horror, softcore pornography, arthouse drama, and arch satire, Crash is an exercise in “exploitation chic” that is sure to leave a lasting impression.
If you’re looking for a movie that’s equal parts disturbing and hypnotic, then Crash is the ride for you. Sure, it’s a bit obsessed with the connection between sex and car accidents, but who isn’t these days? David Cronenberg’s direction is spot-on, and the film veers fabulously between body horror, softcore porn, arthouse drama, and arch satire. Buckle up and enjoy the weirdly hot, but also cold as ice, journey.
Production Company(ies)
Ealing Studios, Michael Balcon Productions,
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MPAA / Certificate
Rated NC-17 for numerous explicit sex scenes
Year of Release
1997
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English, Swedish
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Nov 17, 1998
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring James Spader, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, Deborah Kara Unger, Rosanna Arquette, Peter MacNeill, directed by David Cronenberg, written by David Cronenberg, drama, NC-17 rating, box office gross of $3.4M, reviewed by Peter Bradshaw, Rob Humanick, Owen Gleiberman, Todd McCarthy, Geoff Andrew, Jeremiah Kipp, Mark J Huisman, Jas Keimig, Guillem Martinez Oya, Robert Martin, Matt Brunson, produced by David Cronenberg, auto collision, human fascination with death, eroticizing danger, sexual turn-on, provocative, explicit premise, classic Cronenberg territory, clinical direction, stationary, dark, disturbing, languorous, hermetic, repetitive, assured, true to itself, Darwinian survival logic, exploitation chic, body horror, softcore pornography, arthouse drama, arch satire
Worldwide gross: $2,671,855
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $4,980,554
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,176
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 543,136
US/Canada gross: $2,664,812
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $4,967,425
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,813
US/Canada opening weekend: $738,339
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $1,376,324
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,245
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $9,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $16,776,728
Production budget ranking: 1,461
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $9,034,268
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$20,830,442
ROI to date (est.): -81%
ROI ranking: 1,887
Holly Hunter – Dr. Helen Remington
Elias Koteas – Vaughan
Deborah Kara Unger – Catherine Ballard
Rosanna Arquette – Gabrielle
Peter MacNeill – Colin Seagrave
David Cronenberg – Director/Producer/Writer
Director(s)
David Cronenberg
Writer(s)
David Cronenberg
Producer(s)
David Cronenberg
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
9 wins & 6 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (61) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (39) | Rotten (22)
It risks being laughed at, and there is a definite, tiny grain of Razzie absurdity that is a part of its weirdly hypnotic high-porn torpor.
November 27, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
[A] necessarily disturbing and equally profound inquiry into human desire, however self-destructive.
November 12, 2012 | Rating: 4/4
Rob Humanick
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
For a movie obsessed with the connection between sexual intercourse and car accidents, David Cronenberg’s Crash could hardly be more stationary.
April 4, 2011 | Rating: C-
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
While the director remains firmly behind the wheel for the first hour or so, he cracks up toward the end with sequences that send the film and the audience into a ditch.
September 9, 2008
Todd McCarthy
Variety
TOP CRITIC
It’s a dark, disturbing, languorous movie, as ludicrous, hermetic and repetitive, perhaps, as Ballard’s original, but admirably assured and true to itself.
June 24, 2006
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
It’s the cold survival logic of Darwin, where libertarians leave their past behind as if it were dead.
July 5, 2005 | Rating: 4/4
Jeremiah Kipp
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
If you’re in the market for a thrilling ride, buckle up and head for Crash.
April 5, 2022
Mark J. Huisman
The Advocate
Weirdly hot, but also cold as ice.
December 8, 2021
Jas Keimig
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
A film about a different form of doing a romantic relationship. A visual confusion between the machine and the human body. A must. [Full review in Spanish]
January 28, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Guillem Martinez Oya
Cinematismo
Cronenberg’s direction is immaculate. Everything, every shot, scene, situation, contributes to sex, cars, and crashing; there is nothing more.
January 13, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Robert Martin
Starburst
An exercise in “exploitation chic.”
December 28, 2020 | Rating: 1.5/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
Veers fabulously across several intersections, between body horror, softcore pornography, arthouse drama, and arch satire.
December 16, 2020 | Rating: 5
Kevin Wight
The Wee Review…
Plot
Since a road accident left him with serious facial and bodily scarring, a former TV scientist has become obsessed by the marriage of motor-car technology with what he sees as the raw sexuality of car-crash victims. The scientist, along with a crash victim he has recently befriended, sets about performing a series of sexual acts in a variety of motor vehicles, either with other crash victims or with prostitutes whom they contort into the shape of trapped corpses. Ultimately, the scientist craves a suicidal union of blood, semen, and engine coolant, a union with which he becomes dangerously obsessed.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels says that James Spader stars in “Crash” as James Ballard, a character who finds sexual pleasure in car crashes.
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