Margaret

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Margaret

R

2011

2h 29m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

75%

Tomatometer

103 Reviews

49%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

New York high-school student Lisa Cohen (Anna Paquin) inadvertently causes an accident in which a bus driver (Mark Ruffalo) runs over a pedestrian (Allison Janney). Guilt-stricken over her role in the woman's death, Lisa's mood swings from normal to furious, with her angry outbursts mostly directed at her mother (J. Smith-Cameron). Lisa reaches out to the dead woman's best friend (Jeannie Berlin) and the bus driver, but her failed efforts to make amends only lead to more hostility.

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Critics Consensus

A surfeit of ideas contributes to Margaret's excessive run time, but Anna Paquin does a admirable job of guiding viewers through emotional hell.

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Keith Uhlich

Time Out

08/28/2024

5/5

This is frayed-edges filmmaking at its finest.

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Guy Lodge

Empire Magazine

09/29/2014

4/5

Knotty, ambitious and trading in messy human truths, it's the work of a master dramatist. Here's hoping Lonergan's next one reaches us a little faster.

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Nicholas Barber

Independent (UK)

09/29/2014

4/5

Margaret is less about plot mechanics than about the virtuosity of the dialogue, the complexity of the characters, and the detail and depth of their untidy world.

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Apr 26

It’s a powerful, provocative, ambitious drama set in the shadow of September 11, 2001, a marvelously messy film about the messiness of emotions and people and relationships, especially as they are tested in extreme circumstances.

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CJ Sheu

Review Film Review

07/07/2022

[This] is probably the closest we’ll ever get to a William Gaddis adaptation, [...] [in which people] talk to each other and to Lisa [an astounding Anna Paquin], and Lisa talks to them, but nobody’s listening.

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Jason Adams

My New Plaid Pants

07/02/2021

This is a movie so dense and somewhat sloppy, somewhat wonderfully so, that I don't know I can do it any justice

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Masha C

@MashaLee Jan 20

Many characters in this film representing types of people that exist in everyday life. Lot going on here. Lisa, the main character, is a young teenager , who is a pure soul, an empath and a morally good human ,struggling to break thru in the world full of other people who no longer are good or pure. She's shocked by the amount of lies and self centrism that surround her. Because she's not yet learnt how to hide her true feelings and thoughts so her passion is pure and rare. Her relationship with her mom is at the center of it all plus her guilt and grief for the bus accident that she basically caused which killed a woman. Lisa is mean and cruel to her own mother , who is deeply unhappy. And the mom, is so stressed by this that she is unable to see value of a great man who fell in love with her. I loved how Lisa cried at the opera at the end of the movie, because of the beauty of music and tragedy only a pure empathetic soul can feel. She's rare and one of a kind type of soul.

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Keith B B

@Okbullard Jan 4

I expected a really great film but received a pompous, long-winded burning ride with a phoned in ending. They could easily have trimmed 30 minutes from this. I wouldn't ever want to watch it again.

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Maarit L

@Komedienne Sep 26

It is interesting to watch a film, Where the main character is not someone whose side are tou. Very good script. Some Haneke vibes (mother/daughter relationship, Classical music etc)

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Ed .

Aug 29

Are you there, God? If so, why did you allow someone to make Margaret and why didn't you warn me in advance? My friend and I thought this was the most annoying film ever made. Oleanna from David Mamet featured dialog that was intentionally annoying. I doubt those who lent a hand to Margaret intended the same.

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Dani G

Jul 23

Kind of "soap opera - ish" at times, but kind of tragic, but no, in the end no... It's just life

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John A

@ExcessMale 08/31/2024

The scenes that precede the plot's ratcheting tension have far more precision and focus than what follows. Kenneth Lonergan certainly has made better movies. 'Margaret' gets less and less involving as the runtime grows more and more

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Kenneth Lonergan

Director

Anna Paquin

Lisa Cohen

J. Smith-Cameron

Joan

Jean Reno

Ramon

Jeannie Berlin

Emily

Allison Janney

Monica

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Synopsis

New York high-school student Lisa Cohen (Anna Paquin) inadvertently causes an accident in which a bus driver (Mark Ruffalo) runs over a pedestrian (Allison Janney). Guilt-stricken over her role in the woman's death, Lisa's mood swings from normal to furious, with her angry outbursts mostly directed at her mother (J. Smith-Cameron). Lisa reaches out to the dead woman's best friend (Jeannie Berlin) and the bus driver, but her failed efforts to make amends only lead to more hostility.

Director: Kenneth Lonergan
Producer: Sydney Pollack, Gary Gilbert, Scott Rudin
Screenwriter: Kenneth Lonergan
Distributor: Fox Searchlight
Production Co: Scott Rudin Productions, Fox Searchlight, Mirage Enterprises, Camelot Pictures
Rating: R (Sexuality|Disturbing Images|Some Drug Use|Strong Language)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 30, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $46.5K
Runtime: 2h 29m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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