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Knight of Cups
Knight of Cups
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Knight of Cups

Knight of Cups

2015
Romance, Drama
1h 58m
Once there was a young prince whose father, the king of the East, sent him down into Egypt to find a pearl. But when the prince arrived, the people poured him a cup. Drinking it, he forgot he was the son of a king, forgot about the pearl and fell into a deep sleep. (imdb)

Knight of Cups

2015
Romance, Drama
1h 58m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 43.44% from 692 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(695)
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Rated 14 Feb 2015
30
10th
A disappointment. Having loved 'Tree of Life' (and grown to adore 'The New World') I find myself highly unsatisfied with the lack of focus in 'To the Wonder' and this new outing. Most of the lines are improvised and the film, which is frustratingly short on plot, amounts to little more than a series of banal observations on the emptiness of hedonism. I can't even remember most of the individual scenes, except for the one where Bale sucks Portman's toes. And that's one I would prefer to "un-see"!
Rated 01 Feb 2016
30
4th
While seeing this one I was constantly annoyed. I couldn't keep from thinking "it seems like they didn't bother writing any kind of script and like the actors were not given any clues whatsoever about where the scene was going to." Afterwards I read in the trivia section that they didn't really bother writing a script and that the actors were not really given any clues about where the scene was going to.
Rated 17 Jan 2016
72
82nd
On desire, the feeling of inexistence and the contemporary technopolis, exemplified by LA as a sort of K-hole for the soul. Malick pursues even further his desire to sacrifice formal screenwriting on the altar of a kind of pure cinematic aesthetic, as a means of approaching the essence of things, but this implies taking large improvisational risks, which, as is usual in such cases, often don't pay off (e.g., the Blanchett scenes). Yet I was never bored, and there are some remarkable elements. [Full review]
Rated 08 Jan 2016
73
44th
Lubezki's eye for geometric composition and kinetic flair is disgustingly on-point here, as is Townshend's gorgeous Gregorian-inspired score and some absolutely wondrous sound mixing. Unfortunately, the crux of the film's narrative--Malick's routine voiceover narrations--feels far more hackneyed this time around, simply too uninspired and too esoteric to evoke those strongest of humanist emotions Malick has been so strong at producing. An aesthetic marvel, but my patience was tested.
Rated 17 Sep 2015
5
20th
About as pointless as a mopey looking Bale walking aimlessly through a depopulated Death Valley. Pitt once described Malick as 'this guy standing there with a butterfly net, waiting for that moment of truth to go by', which, as with TTOL, allowed him to capture moments that felt grand, captivating and unique. Unfortunately, only a handful of moments fit that criteria here, leaving its posse of faceless characters mired in a rut. At least he doesn't skimp on tits and ass so thanks for that.
Rated 16 Sep 2015
100
99th
I was waiting for that day when Malick would finally make a reference to Call of Duty in one of his movies.
Rated 21 Mar 2016
95
98th
Malick's most conflicted film. It is the first time we see Malick struggle to find natural beauty in his surroundings. By working with Hollywood as his canvas, he introduces a more introspective lens that looks to seek the power of nature instead of stating it. I left the theatre with an existential numbness that is still lingering.
Rated 14 Mar 2016
95
95th
Maddening, disorienting, and overwhelming in an altogether different way from any previous Malick film. Here his usual transcendental neoplatonist romanticism comes face to face with our postmodern, late capitalist reality, and the result is his first atonal work. It might be my least favorite late-period Malick film, but it's still pretty staggering for it's sheer gutsy experimentalism if nothing else. It's the closest he's come yet to purely non-narrative avant-garde cinema, with movie stars.
Rated 08 Jan 2016
1
8th
Terrence Malick going out of his way to ruin his legacy. Enjoy!
Rated 06 Jan 2016
73
80th
More than anything Malick's technique connects you with life. For the longest time I thought this was just an ennui film that pities the rich and famous because they haven't found God yet. But Malick truly sees beauty in every corrupt little L.A. dream, and that's where the film's strange, paradoxical, non-dramatic uplift comes from. The question is, can you still let yourself sink into his flow of allusions?
Rated 05 Jan 2016
0
4th
Malick: Hello Christian, would you like to be in my movie? Bale: Can you send me the script? Malick: I don't write scripts, but I have this cool cinematography technique where I just move around and shit. Bale: That sounds deep and meaningful. Malick: Yes, and we can pawn anything off as art. Bale: True, I saw The Tree of Life, you're very experienced in doing this. Malick: Thank you. One more thing, I have dementia and am incredibly senile. Also, I loved the movie Dunston In Charge.
Rated 06 Mar 2016
85
59th
Viewed March 5, 2016. Reminded me of Fellini, Entourage and Goodbye to Language all at once. Arresting and hypnotic, but seems to reject any semblance of beauty within these hedonistic environments, which makes it some kind of outlier in the Malick filmography. There's something so organic about his filmmaking, so pure. Christian Bale makes for a great troubled vessel. Please baby, no more parties in LA.
Rated 11 Sep 2015
80
73rd
The planes only ever go in one direction. Who will disembark upon landing? Movie actors? Strippers? Beggars? I found Knight of Cups to be the most full filling as a critique on LA as the city of broken dreams. Apart from some unmemorable quotes on love, it is also the most logical. Some of the digitally shot scenes look like a music video, but in overall, it is a breathtaking film, favoring Urban landscapes over nature. Not Malick's best film, but a lovely experience in its own right.
Rated 01 Jun 2019
70
56th
Malick films the big city like no other filmmaker I've seen. An emptiness like the studio sets. An expansiveness like the Mojave.
Rated 26 Nov 2016
80
71st
I loved looking at it but I was kind of offended when it didn't wind up anywhere at the end.
Rated 20 Mar 2016
25
17th
I had some patience with Tree of Life, but Knight of Cups is just the worst parts of that for two hours. Nonsensical and pretentious quasi-philosophical drivel. I don't know why Malick loves voice-overs so much, they're just terrible.
Rated 19 Mar 2016
93
69th
Redemption the theme here as our Pilgrim makes his way out West. The Christian mysticism is heavy (with some Zen thrown in too.) A fragmented, boxed-in story of a man trapped in screens and a fragmented, boxed-in world. The feminine/earth awakens our sleeper from his purgatory and plays a strong contrast to LA's inhuman glass, steel, cops, and concrete. I'm a materialist when it comes to the problem of evil, though, so it's hard to stay convinced. The devil didn't make LA, people did.
Rated 09 Mar 2016
65
28th
While I welcome the departure from formal screenwriting and loved a many scenes in "Knight Of Cups", I found it to be very shallow and contrived. The use of music and the imagery was wonderful as ever, but still ... first Malick that really bored me.
Rated 04 Mar 2016
55
34th
Lots of cool actors and a lot of weird, fun cameos, too. Like his previous work, this film has beautiful cinematography and camera movements. Some of it was quite spellbinding. But in general, I just found it to be pretentious and boring. I could describe to you what happened in the movie, but not what it was actually about. Maybe it went over my head? Maybe I'm not meant to understand it? Whatever the case, I can't say I really got much out of it.
Rated 20 Jan 2016
3
38th
Yeesh. On one hand, I admire that Malick is willing to be so portentous without a trace of irony, but on the other, it's a drifting, fractured, tonally dissonant work, not quite a slog but never quite achieving the resonance or transcendence of, well, every other Malick film. Plenty of striking images, courtesy of God's personal cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, but otherwise? An unconvincing take on the ennui of the rich.
Rated 19 Jan 2016
5
42nd
I had a very difficult time culling any meaning from the voiceovers, the dialogue, or the relationships, to the point where the only central critique I could make out revolved entirely around the emptiness and inexistence of leading a hedonistic life in hollywood; and as far as critiques go, it was pretty boring. In fact, it may be cinema's most boring spiritual crisis of the century thus far. Note: The first movie I'm aware of that has used Burial's music in its soundtrack. Kudos, Malick.
Rated 18 Jan 2016
3
36th
somehow it more purely, and strikingly, inhabits his late career perspective than ever before. he's pushing so many boundaries with this stuff, investing the camera with such fresh, rich ways of seeing and feeling. it's a struggle to slip into these rhythms, especially for a desensitised secular cynic like myself, and for the first time in this trilogy my resistance was never fully broken. but those who outright dismiss his work without so much as wrestling with it are not to be trusted.
Rated 15 Jan 2016
90
92nd
"Belli bir yaşa geldiğinizde bazı şeylerin anlam kazandığını düşünürsünüz. Sonra tıpkı daha öncesinde olduğu gibi kaybolduğunuzun farkına varırsınız. Lanetlenme dedikleri şey bu olsa gerek. Hayatınızın parçaları asla bir araya gelmez. Etrafa saçılmıştır..."
Rated 04 Jan 2016
50
14th
Malick has been one of the best directors that I consistently find a little tedious. I have yet to love any of his movies, but respect the fuck out of him. Here we have unconventional editing, short scenes, and an observational and drifting style that is the very definition of "artistic." This looks wondrous, and yet this is a slog too. It could have been a lot shorter, and watching Bale mope around is not enthralling. Very shallow but pretty, and not in an engaging way.
Rated 02 Nov 2015
66
27th
I kinda appreciate the film for what it is since it's done in Malick's own way (short scenes, unconventional editing) and the film is overall about the vague sense of loneliness despite being surrounded by people, which is hard enough to convey through a film -- but it's also a slog to get through and felt like it could've been 30 minutes long or it could've had more direction in its storytelling.
Rated 28 Sep 2015
45
2nd
This was a parody...right??
Rated 21 Sep 2015
54
9th
Terrence Malick truly found his craft, his own way of shooting, his art! By not giving a shit, about what his audience might think, feel or say, he is a true artist- sadly. For Malick, being a people-pleaser would be step forward. Now, his movies are hectic, empty perfume-adds, that don't realize that a lot of other people said less banal stuff like "Life, hm? You come out of it as smart as you entered." You're not the first person who ever had thoughts like that. Stop acting like one!
Rated 19 Feb 2024
55
31st
Malick's body of work so far seems to show that taking long breaks between films is beneficial for him. They seem to represent a period of time spent figuring out problems, formulating the next thing. It is possible that his last two films, while in many ways remarkable, have suffered as a result of relying too heavily on the framework he used so well in The Tree of Life. The poetic elements are not absent here, but often give way to an aimless, rather than sublime, affect.
Rated 06 Jan 2024
5
4th
I was laughing so hard at this Malick-esque tryhard until I noticed who directed it. MY GOD that's ridiculous
Rated 10 Mar 2023
56
16th
There's a subgenre of movie that seems to lean into its pretention and impenetrability and tries to get by purely on a sustained mood or vibe that hypnotizes you so that even though you have no idea what you just watched, you like it. I think this fits into this genre neatly, but it doesn't quite hit the sweet spot. These movies can be amazing experiences when they hit, but really terrible when they miss. This one feels like it's getting there sometimes, but then pulls back. It's frustrating.
Rated 03 Mar 2021
15
2nd
vajina envysinden muzdarip reklamcinin kadinlari ve okyanusu delirtmek zorunda kalimi
Rated 05 Oct 2020
85
88th
Completely mesmerizing and beautiful, I had so much fun discussing this film, the main theme of trying to find meaning is incredibly relatable, and the feeling of isolation in a sea of people is so incredibly poignant. Attempting to be satisfied within yourself is an everlasting struggle for all of us, and it is enlightening to see it portrayed in such a wonderful way. Unique and a complete feast for the eyes and the ears.
Rated 08 Jul 2020
70
68th
65 ? 70
Rated 02 Oct 2018
52
12th
51.67.
Rated 28 Aug 2018
50
9th
Too hard to follow, became excruciating to watch by the end of it.
Rated 01 Jun 2018
51
9th
51.00
Rated 12 May 2018
80
18th
malickin bu filminde de doğa ve din atıfları oldukça fazlaydı, görüntüler her zamanki gibi muazzam yalnız kurgu çok eksikti
Rated 02 Apr 2018
29
20th
Takes the worst parts of The Tree of Life, and turns them into a feature-length challenge to the audience. An audacious failure.
Rated 12 Nov 2017
35
23rd
Zzzzzzz
Rated 19 Mar 2017
2
46th
I was really into this for the first 40, just awful from blanchet on. After the end titles I wrote a long, rambling, blush-inducingly self-indulgent "review" about it and the two Pilgrim's Progress-adaptation plays I've been in. So now it's left me annoyed *and* blushing.
Rated 10 Mar 2017
30
7th
Christian Bale in every angle possible.
Rated 06 Mar 2017
92
99th
another Masterpiece from the Master!!! I think we can consider it along of "Tree of Life"
Rated 01 Mar 2017
60
39th
malick'ten başka kimse böyle bir yöntemi işletebilir gibi gelmiyor, ama burada sanki malick de pek başarılı olamıyor. filmden bana kalan kısım ne kadar ilgi çekici olsa da bu filmin süresine yayılan bir anlatı olarak değerlenemiyor ve ne yazık ki yer yer sıkıyor. o değil de ben kingsley de varmış filmde, ben o ara uyudum mu acaba?
Rated 14 Feb 2017
10
4th
I can't believe this movie rating was 70. Shame on you Malick. Such a good cast, such a bad script and directing.
Rated 12 Jan 2017
69
21st
Yikes!
Rated 12 Jan 2017
20
12th
Terrence Malick movies are like onions. Remove a layer, and there's always another one to explore. And sometimes they can make your eyes burn, too. Peel past those layers, though, and the movie moves from sour to sweet. Knight of Cups is ultimately the story of a man who, like some country song somewhere, was looking for love--and meaning--in all the wrong places. And, in time, that simple truth becomes obvious to him. (pluggedin.com)
Rated 07 Jan 2017
4
19th
Since Malick runs from even a hint of plot, it's up to us to draw conclusions. Here's mine: After two hours of watching the rich not enjoying their privileges, I felt like smacking them with the Tarot cards Malick uses to divide his tale into chapters. Must all films about alienation be themselves alienating? Take a walk on the beach and ponder that one. There's a line between artful and arty, and Malick has crossed it.
Rated 05 Jan 2017
65
31st
Knight of Cups is, without question, ambitious and intriguingly-presented. Yet I fear that ambition alone, even when intriguing, does not a good movie make. Ambition in art can often give way to pretense, and here Malick crosses that line on more than one occasion. I've no qualms with the concept and definitely appreciate the experimentation, as well as the intense sensory gravitas that Malick accomplishes. I can't call this bad, but I can't call it good, either. It's kind of its own thing.
Rated 17 Dec 2016
41
13th
And now I have to try and summarise all that...... ok. Knight of cups has a great heart, a great desire to make you meditate on its themes. It has at times a constant flow to it and a glimmer of beauty. Ultimately, though it feels as though I am supposed to just sustain a 2 hour viewing on the themes alone. If you really like arty existential movies, it might be your taste. I feel instead as though I am not qualified to watch this movie or something, it just feels like I have to do film studies
Rated 16 Sep 2016
55
43rd
Terry basically applies his signature to a hedonistic screenwriter that hangs around LA and other random places (stripclub, stores, streets, beaches, parties) and locations with beautiful woman trying to achieve his quest for something he quite doesn't know what it is, if it is just enduring love or God, until he meets Natalie, has a son with her and then they run at the beach and everything seems to be fine. The amount of random situations, lines and actors in this almost makes this good.
Rated 11 Sep 2016
73
31st
Aesthetic marvel indeed. Visual poetry. Malick casting out his demons again. Still, I personally find these meanderings a tad too tiring--- even though they have a narrative line, it is feeble and serves only the symbolic evocation purpose. Perhaps it needs a rewatch and a rested viewer, to better digest and comprehend it.
Rated 29 Aug 2016
82
76th
Whenever I watch a Stanley Kubrick movie, I know something deep is going on, but it goes over my head. Whenever I watch a Terrence Malik movie, I know something deep is going on, but it resonates with me. His movies are human. Even when he is using manmade settings instead of nature, it looks beautiful. Knight of Cups is very calming, but not in a way that makes you sleep. It reminded me of To the Wonder, but I liked it a lot more.
Rated 11 Aug 2016
20
5th
I love a lot of Malick movies, but this is beyond tedious, and I only made it 30 minutes in before giving up. Looks pretty, as usual.
Rated 18 Jul 2016
70
73rd
Play it loud.
Rated 23 May 2016
67
43rd
Malick goes full Malick and loses some coherence in the process. It does work in its own way though.
Rated 06 May 2016
85
91st
Definitely not an easy watch, but so unique and different and if you're able to immerge into this experience it won't let you go.
Rated 11 Apr 2016
76
72nd
The scenes are either mesmerizing, either boring, or either entirely pointless or awkward. I call them scenes and not the movie because it has no plot and no drive since the narrative is almost absent. However, you get to see probably what is the best shot movie in the last 30 years. Lubezki is god, there's no other way to put it.
Rated 03 Apr 2016
95
97th
How can I find you? Who do you turn to? How do I bind you?
Rated 01 Apr 2016
80
57th
Minor Malick, mostly due to what seems to me to be writing that's undercooked. I appreciate the overall idea--the mythic quality of the framing device helps elevate the material to its proper weightiness. But numerous times the VO struck me as trite or simplistic. In comparison to something like The Thin Red Line, the difference in writing is especially stark.
Rated 30 Mar 2016
67
20th
A Hollywood screenwriter (Christian Bale) finds the shallow pleasures of life there increasingly unrewarding, but the quest for fulfillment is a rather convoluted one. There's little in the way of traditional plot or character as Malick moves closer towards pure abstraction, but as admirable as his artistic rigor is, the end result is only sporadically rewarding. There are gorgeous images and effective moments (and some good dialogue), but by the end I was honestly more bored than anything.
Rated 30 Mar 2016
6
95th
One of the only films I feel like I need to rewatch immediately
Rated 29 Mar 2016
35
27th
I feel like I should know more about Tarot cards.
Rated 25 Mar 2016
55
37th
Malick revisits the style of TOL again and the law of diminishing returns completely applies. The shift to urban landscapes was an interesting move, and they are depicted as beautiful and alienating, but it's all in service of a portentous navel gazing film about first world problems. Unlike Antonioni, Malick simplifies the ennui felt by the rich, and the visual style reeks of high end fashion gloss that strips the images of any real poetry and resonance. The cameos are pointless too.
Rated 17 Mar 2016
65
69th
Significantly better than To The Wonder. Christian Bale is Malick's Gary Cooper--an actor who can guide a movie via his wordless sorrowful gaze, whereas Ben Affleck always looked sort of ill at ease with having nothing to say. Malick and Bale show that there is a beauty in the potentially unanswerable question of "why?" Brooding is presented as a worthwhile hobby. Because, who knows? Maybe one day we'll understand it all.
Rated 12 Mar 2016
80
86th
There was supposed to be purpose. But, drunk, he no longer sees, and is now an alien in his world, disconnected and unsure. Seems to involve a harsh meta-narrative on the very place and community he films the movie at.
Rated 08 Mar 2016
35
5th
Uhm...nope. This one proves once again that a film cannot live from solely nice cinematography.
Rated 07 Mar 2016
70
19th
Viele, die Knight Of Cups während der Berlinale 2015 sahen, beschrieben ihn als Malicks befriedigendsten Film seit über zehn Jahren. Diejenigen, denen seine letzten beiden Filme zu bedeutungsschwanger, zu grandios, zu "Malicky" waren, dürften sich auf diesen Abschluss der Spiritual-Quest Trilogie freuen... mehr auf cinegeek.de
Rated 30 Jan 2016
70
57th
It looks pretty and there's a lot you can take out of it, but I'm starting to wish that Malick/Lubezki would change up their style a little bit. On it's own this movie already blends together, add it together to past Malick films and these have very limited staying power despite having interesting content.
Rated 28 Jan 2016
75
42nd
Probably that's the most subjective film I've ever watched. Still not that bad if we consider it was all improvised..
Rated 08 Jan 2016
60
89th
A very searching film from Terrence Malick. Almost too searching within it's dream state. Sometimes it floats around and you get caught in the thoughts. Other times it feels icy and immature. But then there are the snippets of culture that gets one. For me the bits of soundtrack taken from Norwegian minimalist Biosphere and the few seconds of lucha libre bringing he cool! Ton of cameos, but it's never the actors that's in focus. It's the state of mind....
Rated 04 Jan 2016
40
17th
Malick once again sends his camera floating around a troubled soul mumbling not much more than a stream of consciousness for the whole movie. It's hard to discern exactly what the point of it all is and following along on this aimless journey becomes more and more exasperating as things progress. It's as if Malick had no idea what to make a film about, but went ahead and made one anyway.
Rated 11 Apr 2015
27
7th
Oh, come on!!!

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