Frida (2002)

NEUTRAL

In-Theaters

82%

2002, Biography/Drama, 2h 3m

RT Critics’ Score: 75% (UNBIASED)
RT Audience Score: 85%
Awards & Nominations: Won 2 Oscars
17 wins & 47 nominations total

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Critics Consensus

Frida is a passionate, visually striking biopic about the larger-than-life artist

Audience Consensus

Frida is the kind of movie that makes you want to dye your hair bright red, put on a flower crown, and paint your own masterpiece. Sure, it may not be perfect, but it’s a colorful and entertaining watch that captures the spirit of a fierce and determined artist. Plus, Salma Hayek’s performance as Frida is nothing short of head-held-high perfection. So go ahead, channel your inner Frida and embrace your wild soul.

Storyline

“Frida” chronicles the life Frida Kahlo shared unflinchingly and openly with Diego Rivera, as the young couple took the art world by storm. From her complex and enduring relationship with her mentor and husband to her illicit and controversial affair with Leon Trotsky, to her provocative and romantic entanglements with women, Frida Kahlo lived a bold and uncompromising life as a political, artistic, and sexual revolutionary.

Production Company(ies)
M K2 Productions, C E D Productions, France 3 Cinéma

Distributor
Miramax Films

Release Type
Theatrical

Filming Location(s)
Barrio del Alto, Puebla, Mexico

MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for sexuality/nudity and language

Year of Release
2002

Technical Specs

Color:

Color
Black and White
Sound mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS
Aspect ratio:

1.85 : 1
Runtime:

2h 3m
Language(s):

English, French, Russian
Country of origin:

United States
Release date:

Release Date (Theaters): Oct 25, 2002 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 10, 2003

Genre(s)
Biography/Drama

Keyword(s)
starring Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush, Ashley Judd, Antonio Banderas, Ed Norton, directed by Julie Taymor, written by Hayden Herrera, Clancy Sigal, Diane Lake, Gregory Nava, Anna Thomas, biography, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Jonathan Rosenbaum, David Denby, Scott Tobias, Julie Taymor, David Ansen, Sara Michelle Fetters, Daisy Leigh-Phippard, Felicia Feaster, Mattie Lucas, John A Nesbit, Emanuel Levy, MPAA rating R, nudity, language, sexuality, produced by Sarah Green, Salma Hayek, Jay Polstein, Lizz Speed, Nancy Hardin, Lindsay Flickinger, Roberto Sneider, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Leon Trotsky, Tina Modotti, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Nelson Rockefeller, Miramax Films, Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, Dolby A, Dolby Digital

Box Office Details

Worldwide gross: $56,298,474
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $93,374,542
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,050
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 10,182,611

US/Canada gross: $25,885,000
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $42,931,892
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,136
US/Canada opening weekend: $205,996
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $341,657
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,501

Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $12,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $19,902,751
Production budget ranking: 1,367
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $10,717,631
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $62,754,160
ROI to date (est.): 205%
ROI ranking: 621

Cast & Crew

Salma Hayek

Alfred Molina

Geoffrey Rush

Ashley Judd

Antonio Banderas

Frida Kahlo

Diego Riviera

Leon Trotsky

Tina Modotti

David Alfaro Siqueiros

Salma Hayek – Frida Kahlo
Alfred Molina – Diego Riviera
Geoffrey Rush – Leon Trotsky
Ashley Judd – Tina Modotti
Antonio Banderas – David Alfaro Siqueiros
Ed Norton – Nelson Rockefeller

Julie Taymor

Hayden Herrera

Sarah Green

Salma Hayek

Jay Polstein

Director

Writer

Producer

Director(s)
Julie Taymor

Writer(s)
Hayden Herrera, Clancy Sigal, Diane Lake, Gregory Nava, Anna Thomas

Producer(s)
Sarah Green, Salma Hayek, Jay Polstein, Lizz Speed, Nancy Hardin, Lindsay Flickinger, Roberto Sneider

Film Festivals

Awards & Nominations
Won 2 Oscars
17 wins & 47 nominations total

Academy Awards
Oscar Best Achievement in Makeup Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Original Score Winners, Oscar Winners

Top Reviews

Jonathan Rosenbaum

David Denby

Scott Tobias

Julie Taymor

David Ansen

Chicago Reader

New Yorker

AV Club

Guardian

Newsweek

FRIDA
All Critics (160) | Top Critics (50) | Fresh (121) | Rotten (39)
A little better than the run-of-the-mill artist picture, probably because the colorful lives of these figures have an interest that for many people exceeds the interest of their work–or at least enhances it…

May 9, 2022 | Rating: 2/4

Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Smart, willful, and perverse, this Frida is nobody’s servant, and the tiny Hayek plays her with head held high. You may want to laugh now and then, but you won’t look away.

January 7, 2020

David Denby
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
Salma Hayek finally ushered her dream project into production, but her impassioned lead performance lacks the necessary gravitas for the role, mistaking empty energy for wild fits of inspiration.

January 7, 2020

Scott Tobias
AV Club
TOP CRITIC
The plodding, glumly literal screenplay holds this otherwise expressive biopic back, but it’s still a colourful and entertaining watch.

January 6, 2020 | Rating: B

Julie Taymor
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
It wasn’t a bad idea to conceive of the film as an epic, complex love story between Frida and Rivera, but the passion between them is more rhetorical than palpable…Taymor and Hayak give us only the rough sketch of a wild soul.

November 1, 2007

David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
It would be nice to report that the subsequent film, with all of the talent and perseverance that has gone into seeing it to fruition, was worth the heartfelt efforts of all involved.

June 19, 2003 | Rating: 2.5/4

Sara Michelle Fetters
MovieFreak.com
TOP CRITIC
Taymors film doesnt shy away from Fridas struggles and her fierce determination to continue despite them. But it also delves into the real spirit of a painter, and the politics that turn the tides of culture.

February 21, 2022

Daisy Leigh-Phippard
Screen Queens
The strangest of birds – a film about a Communist, bisexual, hirsute, maverick artist aimed squarely at a mainstream audience – Frida may, in fact, turn out to be more radical than it first appears.

February 4, 2020

Felicia Feaster
Creative Loafing
One can imagine Taymor’s glorious vision as a triumph of which Frida herself would approve.

June 5, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/4

Mattie Lucas
The Dispatch (Lexington, NC)
a pity that the project paints by the numbers so much

July 22, 2012 | Rating: C

John A. Nesbit
Old School Reviews
Sporting mustcahe, Selma Hayek gives a solid performance in the otherwise conventionl and mediocre biopic of the noted Spnish artist.

May 5, 2011 | Rating: B-

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Graphic biopic of artist Frida Kahlo.

January 1, 2011 | Rating: 3/5

David Gurney
Common Sense Media…

Plot
“Frida” chronicles the life Frida Kahlo shared unflinchingly and openly with Diego Rivera, as the young couple took the art world by storm. From her complex and enduring relationship with her mentor and husband to her illicit and controversial affair with Leon Trotsky, to her provocative and romantic entanglements with women, Frida Kahlo lived a bold and uncompromising life as a political, artistic, and sexual revolutionary.

Trivia