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Tangerine

Tangerine

2015
Comedy
Drama
1h 28m
A working girl tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart. (imdb)
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Tangerine

2015
Comedy
Drama
1h 28m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 57.78% from 1016 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(1016)
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Rated 17 Jul 2016
80
79th
We should have more films like this: not reluctant to be ugly and dirty, to be mundane, to be rude, to be sincere, a film which has no bits of pretentiousness and no allegoric distance of the movies which are descendants of the "classical tradition" . "Tangerine" restores and develops the premise of neorealism by zeroing the distance between life and art, there is no representation, we have an experience like that of a snapchat or instagram share, pure actuality, thus politics.
Rated 19 Sep 2015
85
77th
This is what indie movies are all about, whether it be the experimental iPhone cinematography, the bold/affecting amateur performances, and the hit-or-miss script. The film reminded me of My Own Private Idaho in the sense that it portrayed these two women without judgment and at their level. The viewer is there to empathize and get dragged along (much like that bitch Dinah) through the glaring streets of LA and laugh with them the whole way. Also, the laundromat scene was so potent and gorgeous.
Rated 16 Dec 2015
47
19th
I love the Michael Mann-esque lighting. The film has some pretty great character moments too. But I found it too obnoxious and overbearing to get into. The characters all come off as supremely annoying and the plot doesn't move at all until about halfway through. The comedy doesn't work when you feel bad for the characters, which I often did. I respect the experimental spirit that went into Tangerine, and the focus on a marginalized, often ignored group; I just would've liked it more as a short.
Rated 18 Dec 2017
5
91st
It's a night-gone-wrong film filtered through a delightfully trashy aesthetic that perfectly evokes, in its sprawling and disconnected melancholy, the feeling of downtown Los Angeles at night, where the streets stretch out into an endless landscape of fast food joints, gas stations and laundromats. The makeshift, fucked-up family units these characters have formed are the only thing holding them all together by the slightest of threads, but it's all they have, for better or worse.
Rated 22 Jun 2015
65
29th
Tangerine is a brave film in the way it embraces ostracized transgender people, and being filmed on iPhone 5s equipped with an anamorphic adapter lens is an interesting gimmick. However, its attempts at humor fall flat with amateurish writing and shallow jokes, and the drama just doesn't quite work. I appreciate the set-up of the film more than I actually liked the execution.
Rated 11 Jul 2015
50
48th
I like the warts-and-all nonchalance with which it treated the friendship between two black transsexual prostitutes. And, yeah, the style of the film is loud and abrasive in a way that is absolutely appropriate to the protagonist. But I also felt that the film left its characters out to dry a bit more than I was comfortable with, in a way that betrays that ostensible sympathy between style and personality, and the madcap elements weren't particularly effective.
Rated 15 Dec 2015
55
39th
To shoot for cinema on an iPhone is in itself a novelty. And the transgender protagonists and their sub-culture milieu are novel also. But other than that I don't really see why so many people have fallen head over their heels over this one. Perhaps they just have to get used to wearing them...
Rated 12 Oct 2015
94
98th
Absolutely wonderful! Sean Baker has to be the most generous director working in America. He devotes attention to the marginalised folk who would either never have their stories told, or else be relegated to supporting roles for viewers to laugh at. Despite the content and lead characters, this is essentially quite an old-fashioned narrative with sassy leads who you initially laugh with, then quickly to grow to admire and even love. A very necessary film.
Rated 08 Nov 2015
50
38th
Tangerine is self-consciously cool about its subjects but at the same time kind of plays them for laughs. It's cute for a short while but overstays its welcome.
Rated 28 Dec 2015
90
92nd
Hard to explain, but this film visually evokes that feeling of being on a sidewalk in Los Angeles. I don't just mean it's literally depicting the streets; it's the way the sun looks and the kind of people you see walking around. It's buoyed by maybe the best soundtrack of the year and comedic performances for the ages by the two leads. It's a journey through an underworld that any other film would treat like 2-dimensional poverty porn, but here we've just got characters full of life and depth.
Rated 29 Jul 2015
70
77th
A funny and energetic movie about a trans prostitute, although it doesn't exactly have much when it comes to plot or characters. The iPhone-shot film is colorful and has an interesting visual style. Worth seeing, but don't go in expecting a strong drama.
Rated 20 Dec 2015
66
41st
It's nice to see an attempt at something different, but there are a few problems with this. Most of the scenes in the taxi are pointless, and a few unintentionally hilarious; the taxi driver's arc adds little overall. The cinematography is usually nice, except for the sometimes nauseating combination of off-center shots and fast cutting. Some poignancy is achieved in the end, though it would be more effective with a stronger narrative focus.
Rated 29 Nov 2015
77
64th
As the film's seemingly disparate narrative threads began to cross and the film's wider perspective had begun to come into focus, my uncertainty made way for unbridled pleasure towards a forward-thinking comedy that continues to unravel surprises equally endearing and hilarious in measure. Radiant golds and electric blues highlight the glossy Los Angeles landscape and accentuate the film's frenetic pace with an unmistakable bounciness that keeps the film afloat in optimistic vibes.
Rated 28 Mar 2016
20
8th
Follow the dregs of society around for an evening & call it entertainment. Transgender prostitutes, female prostitutes (called fish), pimps and johns are the main characters. It lacked a compelling story. I was not amused, engaged or entertained, but rather saddened by the exposure to people living such sorrowful lives. There is more irony in it than comedy. The loud, in-your-face acting quickly became tiresome. Too much pathetic ignorant drama without a worthwhile payoff.
Rated 24 Dec 2015
12
10th
I wanted to like this, really i did, but it's just not very good filmmaking. For something so in-your-face about it's own gritty realism the plot is pretty contrived, and the acting and delivery are stiltedly unnatural in that particular way only amateurish nonactors can be. Aesthetically it's basically a notch above a Youtube video (just because you can shoot a movie on an iPhone now doesn't mean you should). But i guess none of this matters when the point is to add to "the conversation" right?
Rated 16 Jan 2016
75
40th
[Jan 16, 2016 - 1st viewing] Interesting characters, and generally amusing film, it's also nothing too memorable and annoyingly 'indie' at times.
Rated 14 Jan 2016
76
46th
While the camera phone cinematography's impressive & the performers convey that quality that strongly suggests they aren't actors but can somehow carry a small film like this anyway, the raves given to this are likely a result of a PC bump (critics love diversity), since the story is so slight that entertainment depends entirely on how funny u find stereotypical sassiness. The "realism" ends w/ a nice pimp & an angry TG supposedly ready 2 assault that never does lest she make herself unlikable.
Rated 21 Jan 2023
83
69th
Energised and invigorating street tour of L.A. gets a powerful, propulsive momentum from its cast performances, making it easy to overlook the sometimes wandering and scattered narrative, whose threads don’t come together convincingly; despite the best efforts of the donut shop scene, the links between the stories are indistinct and unclear, leaving the film on a tone of uncertainty. At its best as fly on the wall for Rodriguez and Taylor’s adrenalized (and often very funny) adventures.
Rated 30 Nov 2015
7
57th
Word goes round Aaron Paul did some uncredited script-doctoring on the screenplay. Merry Christmas Eve, Bitch!
Rated 02 Feb 2016
80
78th
Riotous and raucously funny with an understated vein of sadness bubbling underneath its saturated, energetic surface. Baker avoids judgment and recognizes that these characters, flawed as they are, are all deeply human.
Rated 22 Feb 2016
88
73rd
With filmmaking more accessible than ever with digital technology, this movie has an electrified, trailblazing enthusiasm largely absent from much of today's independent film. The execution of its decisions feel smart and resourceful when you actually watch the movie play out. Spending the day with what some may consider the dregs of society is exhilarating, gross, humbling, saddening, and real. There's a lot of understated sadness here, but this nuanced movie is not defined by it.
Rated 30 Dec 2015
1
4th
I told my friend, who made me watch this movie, that I went to Criticker and typed one number then told him to guess what it was.
Rated 02 Aug 2015
5
81st
One of the most important American films of the last decade. The ending scene in the laundromat won't be beat this year.
Rated 17 May 2017
4
74th
By virtue of its milieu have viewers politicized this film, and though it's true that all choices are in some sense informed by politics, Tangerine strikes me as completely sincere. Not a self-consciously didactic piece, but a raw close-up of loneliness and companionship, so frenetic and hilarious that a sense of poignancy in its quiet final moments feels thoroughly earned.
Rated 29 Nov 2015
80
86th
Words like 'vibrant' and 'energetic' come to mind immediately. Words like 'hilarious', 'heartfelt', and 'really fucking unique' come up soon after.
Rated 23 Dec 2015
85
89th
Frank and funny portrait of hopelessness and compassion, and a perfect addition to the LA canon. This will soon be referred to as a landmark film.
Rated 19 Nov 2017
85
82nd
A long time ago, I was in Burma, and my friends and I were working for a bandit, the size of a tangerine. So we went looking for the local gov't. In 6 months, I saw a tangerine, the size of a tangerine. The bandit had been the tangerine. The tangerine.
Rated 10 Feb 2018
89
91st
So unlike most movies that depict sex workers, transgender women, and black communities in stereotype or treat them like inscrutable curiosities. Tangerine is so vividly fresh in contrast: funny but not obnoxiously heightened, authentic but brimming with outrageous style, subversive but emotionally honest at every moment. At no point does Baker dwell on the tragedy of the characters because that reality is implicit; instead, he deftly explores the full scope of their lives, as they deserve.
Rated 23 Dec 2015
78
57th
Despite its lack of narrative finesses, Tangerine is liberating, by just being loud and aggressive against its audience, plot and city likewise. For a generation trapped in a technological overload and a total lack of technological education. This may will turn into an important movie, but its not a good one.
Rated 05 Mar 2016
4
1st
This was supposed to be a dramedy but it was much more drama than comedy. I think I laughed once. Pretty mediocre story.
Rated 12 Dec 2015
85
79th
Once again Sean Baker takes us to those on the fringes of society--in this case, he follows a couple of transgender prostitutes on one particularly dramatic Christmas Eve. Baker captures the frenetic lives of these people through his choices of transitional music (loved the contrast with the classical piece), an always-moving camera, and a couple of lead actors that bring spirit and life to the screen.
Rated 26 Jan 2018
70
70th
Somehow this manages to feel 10 minutes too long even though the running time is under 90 minutes. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to care about any of these despicable characters, but for a slice of life flick I enjoyed it.
Rated 03 Jan 2016
65
54th
It stars real transgender women playing transgender characters, which is great. Does it look like it was shot on iPhones? Yes. But that doesn't hinder it from telling an effective story. I thought it was alright, overall. Some of the acting wasn't quite up to scratch. It wasn't amazing, but it did have moments of humour, of sadness, of sweetness, and of beauty, and that's more than enough to make a compelling film.
Rated 06 Jun 2019
90
96th
Once in a while a film comes along that completely shatters the ceiling of potential for indie filmmaking. Sean Baker join Criticker coward
Rated 21 May 2016
70
59th
The fact that this film was mostly shot on iPhone 5's is quite incredible. It adds a certain doco-feel to it, which works in its favour as it tries to show a slightly exaggerated "real" life experience that the characters go through. I love the irony in the film in regards to "no collateral", because this is what it becomes about. The main characters determination leaves a path of destruction.
Rated 25 Jan 2016
7
67th
Sin-Dee's unstoppable death march en route to Chester is hilarious and more or less sustains the narrative the whole way through.
Rated 14 Feb 2019
75
83rd
(Rewatch: better screwball the 2nd time around. Fav scene update: the whole final showdown at the Donut Time was amazing. I again like the Armenian dynamic.) Very funny; hopefully the depiction of characters wasn't too stereotypical. I appreciated the Armenian family. Sean Baker does a good job with movies (Florida Project) showcasing Americans beneath the surface. Fav scene: dragging Dinah all throughout town...seriously?
Rated 08 Sep 2018
75
76th
Forcing it a bit too much at times - both in terms of script and filmmaking style - but comfortably occupies a position few other films dare venture near to. And yes, impressive for being shot on iPhones - at least so long as there is enough light...
Rated 17 Jan 2020
50
9th
Absent the (seemingly involuntary) humanizing accents, this is the perfect yuletide mix of tedium and degeneracy. Alexandra's the single character in this sump of grotesques who's somewhat sympathetic. I really liked "The Florida Project" and mostly disliked this.
Rated 27 Mar 2022
85
81st
In the sensibility of Korine, Tangerine forces its crazed and skiddish characters upon you with gusto, making this intense exploration of this specific, desperate part of town feel so (enjoyably) uncomfortably close. I can see how some people might find the climactic scene overwhelming and chaotic, but it comes across as amazing (and genuine, if you've ever been to a donut store at 1am before) to me.
Rated 17 Jan 2016
71
51st
To many shots of people just walking with music playing that didn't really add much. They weren't particularly poignant or amazingly beautiful shots. That said, it had some really funny moments. Definitely a contestant for the weirdest film I've seen in the past year.
Rated 31 Jul 2016
53
13th
A very obnoxious movie, but I guess that's the point
Rated 18 Dec 2015
85
59th
A film about the corners of society that we rarely see, cleverly set within the bad parts of the town that is responsible for everything we see. The iPhone cinematography is genuinely brilliant - ecstatically colorful, spontaneous, like a series of exceedingly artistic Snapchats. The acting isn't great (and, sometimes, actively annoying), but this film is less about its parts and more about the sum. This is Robert Altman in the modern age.
Rated 31 May 2018
84
67th
84.00
Rated 19 Nov 2017
60
26th
While there is a raw honesty to it, plus the novel cell phone movie approach make it an interesting project. Aside from that, it's a little too rough for me, it seemed unsure if it was serious about this, or a big joke. Maybe that was the point. Either way, not for me.
Rated 05 Sep 2022
80
88th
A soaring film, whose immaculate structure and energetic photography and soundtrack captivate from start to finish. The vivid characters are real and proficiently interwoven, and we witness in anticipation how they're coming together till everything clicks. Baker can impart deep, lingering meanings even in fleeting moments and there's a few uproariously funny ones too. Above all, "Tangerine" is profoundly moving, the singing scene and of course the excellent finale being prime examples of that.
Rated 06 May 2017
50
8th
Well, you can tell this was made on an iPhone, probably with sticky tangerine fingers. This movie was a hot mess. I didn't find it that funny and the acting was absolutely bottom the the barrel. I hated all the characters and it really didn't have an ending. It kept my attention for sure, maybe just because of how it was always following people around (thanks again stupid Birdman) but just because it's interesting doesn't mean it's good. Train wrecks are interesting but no good comes of them...
Rated 11 Mar 2017
45
36th
there is a very fine line between "naturalistic performances" and bad acting. this movie crosses it. there are some moments there are genuinely very good, but it also felt like they built those moments and didn't know how to fill out the rest of the script. if you want to watch it, watch it.
Rated 17 Sep 2017
99
92nd
Clever and slick script. Fantastic use of iphone and is a better depiction than what La La Land wanted to be. Funny, progressive, emotional, deep. What else do you need?
Rated 08 Apr 2019
90
93rd
I love so many things about this film: how it is shot using an iPhone, how it shows the real side of L.A., how the director cast trans women to play trans roles (instead of hiring cishet men and then applauding them for playing such a "brave role"), how the actresses collaborated with the director to shape the screenplay. Beautiful prelude to The Florida Project. Baker is an amazing director and will remain one of my favorites.
Rated 19 Feb 2024
60
39th
A really mixed bag here, but I didn't find the bad things distracting enough to detract from the experience overall. The big criticism is that there's a lot of clutter, and the fragments never seem to congeal into something integrated. What this film signifies for me is a legacy for Tarantino's dialogue that doesn't make me puke, and reveals how large the door opened by Korine will ultimately prove to be.
Rated 20 Jan 2016
65
40th
Starts off annoying, but eventually I was able to settle into the groove. Would've been better with either more focus or more comedy.
Rated 27 Dec 2015
3
36th
idk about baker leaving the characters out to dry, but kudos to kyle for the pun. if anything the STARLET director is still slightly over-sentimentalising IMO, and his intentions/ironies are a tad too simplistic and transparent. the newness of how he films LA left me breathless again though, and much of this is pitched immaculately (not least that dardennes-ish ending), with many of its pleasures fittingly laying in the details and margins. like XXL it's funny, lived-in and casually progressive.
Rated 07 May 2016
66
50th
I'm happy that this brings some attention and humanity to a segment of the population that is often ignored. There was also some decent humor, and a few surprisingly poignant moments. Unfortunately, the photography and script left a lot to be desired.
Rated 31 Jan 2018
84
89th
Badass.
Rated 13 Aug 2022
76
25th
amerikanın ne kadar yozlaşmış bir bok çukuruna dönüştüğü güzel anlatılmış.
Rated 15 Jan 2016
95
97th
Didn't really know what to expect going in and my mind ended up being blown. The opening scene is chaotic, having two large personalities talking fast, loud, and full of aggression. It was so out there and with characters I have very little in common with I was kept at an arms length, and yet as the movie kept going I got so attached and became so entranced I ended up loving it. It's sad, heartfelt, funny, fair, and beautiful in a broken way. I loved it.
Rated 24 Sep 2018
77
77th
Watch several first time actors run wild through LA and discover that life is hard but even harder if your facing it alone. Director Sean Baker does wonders with his actors and an iPhone. Definitely recommended, bitch!
Rated 09 Jan 2016
66
66th
A bit too diffuse, but such a powerful street tale conducted by hilarious performances and an iPhone cinematography capable of getting striking shots in LA.
Rated 01 Dec 2016
31
4th
Don't give me no drama, please b*tch.
Rated 25 Oct 2015
80
81st
watched: 2015, 2023
Rated 18 Dec 2021
90
75th
Raw, authentic, sincere and empathetic. It has a lovely madcap energy and the 'stolen shots' around LA are quite magic at times. Chester is the worst, and the laundry scene was such a freaking poingnant moment.
Rated 22 Sep 2015
95
97th
Overall a dazzling movie. Beautiful shots, beautiful characters, and an excellently constructed plot that converges in one of the best finales I've seen in a long time. Both very funny and very poignant.
Rated 07 Mar 2016
70
19th
In jeder Hinsicht ist Tangerine ein "Indie" Film. Es ist die Geschichte einer Transgender Prostituierten, die Weihnachten nach der Freundin ihres Zuhälters sucht. Tatsächlich wurde Tangerine mit einem iPhone gefilmt, was die Komödie nur umso liebeswerter macht. "Indie" von der Story als auch der Machart her!(...) mehr auf cinegeek.de
Rated 26 Jul 2016
75
59th
What starts as overbearing ends with poignance thanks to a director who clearly cares about humanity in his films. There simply aren't many cinematic films this unashamed, good stuff.
Rated 04 May 2022
70
82nd
This is a screwball dramedy- a genre so rarely explored that I'm not sure it actually exists- and it's a pretty darn good one. Authentic, engaging performances by a widely diverse cast, beautifully shot, & doesn't drag on. I do wish at least some of the characters were less shitty people, but I think that's part of the idea- none of these LGBTQ personalities feel like the standard caricatures we're all used to. They're deeply flawed, but also interesting because of it. Fantastic ending scene.
Rated 08 Dec 2015
75
66th
It's as if The Wizard of Oz only took place within the tornado
Rated 08 Jan 2021
7
73rd
Vibrant , colourful and non judgemental.
Rated 21 Feb 2024
70
69th
Cool characters, lots of pointless scenes, did not connect narratively or thematically for me.
Rated 28 Apr 2016
90
53rd
A very original take on "the woman scorned" trope.
Rated 06 Feb 2021
97
98th
Beautiful
Rated 10 Aug 2015
88
85th
On Christmas Eve, transgender prostitutes Sin-Dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) and Alexandra (Mya Taylor) scour Los Angeles for Sin-Dee's pimp/disloyal lover, while an expat cabbie (Karren Karagulian) seeks an escape from his unhappy life, which Alexandra may provide. Raw, energetic dark comedy which shows how the hijinks we laugh at can have serious fallout, and how human connections endure through human weaknesses. Enthusiastically directed; stunning cinematography, given it was made on an iPhone.
Rated 01 Jul 2023
85
85th
A wildly entertaining drama comedy with unforgettable characters. It has a frenetic energy that matches the scenario well and is paced perfectly. Baker has a talent for picking stories about rarely depicted marginalized communities and portraying them without judgment. The score is fantastic and much of the cinematography hit for me. Not as good as The Florida Project, but definitely a winner for Baker. I look forward to seeing his others.
Rated 30 Oct 2015
60
89th
I didn't know what I was letting myself in for, a fairly small film, but this was pretty badass! An invite to a drama queen's Christmas eve, and it feels almost authentic in it's alternative nature. And you learn never to bitch a transvestite!
Rated 21 Aug 2018
75
71st
Best LA punk movie since Repo Man.
Rated 11 Aug 2016
27
31st
Don't like this, but very obviously a labor both of love and of a director who knows and has absorbed Akerman, Rivette, Rohmer, Cassavetes, and so on. For an actual review-- certainly something more interesting and generous-- I recommend user loc42's.
Rated 24 Jun 2020
32
10th
Unique, lively, raw, yet rough and obnoxious. I don't like any of these people and can't identify with anyone. There's not enough fun to be had to recommend this or ever see it again.
Rated 08 Dec 2015
85
87th
Aggressive filmmaking that is funny and heartwarming...in a slutty kinda way. One of the year's most memorable films for its wonderful characters and energetic photography. Just great.

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