Anesthesia | Rotten Tomatoes

Anesthesia

R

Released Jan 8, 2016

1 hr. 29 min.

Drama

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for Anesthesia: Trailer 1

List

27%

45 Reviews

Tomatometer

50%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

The lives of a self-destructive student (Kristen Stewart), a hard-drinking housewife (Gretchen Mol) and an impoverished junkie (K. Todd Freeman) are linked to the brutal attack of a Columbia University philosophy professor (Sam Waterston).

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Critics Consensus

Anesthesia's incredible cast is wasted on a sloppily-assembled drama whose grand ambitions are undermined by a flawed screenplay.

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Audience Member

In "Anesthesia," Nelson attempts to explore life and the ways people tend to detach themselves from it, but eventually find connection through a series of loosely interconnected characters. The main problem is, the film doesn't spend enough time developing any of them beyond just scratching the surface, instead devolving into long self-reflective speeches with nothing much new to say on the matter. However, this cast is packed with talented and recognizable faces, but unfortunately, the thin script doesn't give them much to do, no matter how hard they try.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

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Audience Member

I loved it and the character Sophie portrays teenage struggles and self harm quite well.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

steve d

Too many fine actors with no time to develop their characters and nothing for them to do.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The big problem is that this movie is going to condescend to you. It's going to use big words and have high concept conversations for no real reason other than to deliver the characters as the types of people that would have those conversations when they could easily have more meaningful simpler conversations, implying that the audience for this movie is intended for those people. That message is immediately lost on the wide variety of characters as this is a multi-threaded story (think "Love, Actually") and situations that we're supposed relate to on behalf of the characters. There is a slew of faces you might recognize, among them Hannah Marx and Kristen Stewart. Most of the acting is well done for what they were given. The movie, while not technically intensive, is shot extremely well, and of nothing else the movie is well balanced with an almost perfect use of "starting with the ending", seriously it comes together beautifully. While I did enjoy the movie somewhat, its more out of respect for the overall composition that I'd rate it highly. It's hard to recommend it outside of academic purposes, and I don't think I'd watch it again.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Great cast. Lackluster story.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Poignant, raw, sincere, heartfelt and entertaining. Anesthesia is a good title referencing the methods people use to escape, deal with and numb life's myriad of pain as opiates like pot, heroin, alcohol, sex, an affair, self-mutilation, charity, heroism, love and technology. Despite the huge impersonal gap caused by tech, this snapshot of one area shows how little our human dilemmas have changed and how interconnected we still can be. I enjoyed the storytelling, the acting and the philosophy. I do wish the end wasn't quite so abrupt though, leaving a feeling of loose ends.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

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Tim Blake Nelson

Director

Kristen Stewart

Sophie

Sam Waterston

Prof. Walter Zarrow

Glenn Close

Marcia Zarrow

Gretchen Mol

Sarah

Tim Blake Nelson

Adam Zarrow

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Anesthesia: Trailer 1

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Molly Eichel

Philadelphia Inquirer

The irony of Anesthesia is that, while it uses interconnectivity as a storytelling mechanism, the characters do not really connect.

Rated: 2/4

Jan 29, 2016

Full Review

John Hartl

Seattle Times

Stewart stands out because her one big scene seems so passionate and genuine. It's the only moment when "Anesthesia" seems to be working.

Rated: 2/4

Jan 29, 2016

Full Review

Richard Roeper

Chicago Sun-Times

A grand gesture going nowhere.

Rated: 2/4

Jan 28, 2016

Full Review

Don Shanahan

Every Movie Has a Lesson

The looping arrangement peeking into each character keeps curiosity high, yet its point-of-view is remarkably overcrowded with quandary that feels too manufactured for happenstance's sake.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 14, 2022

Full Review

Elissa Suh

Spectrum Culture

Anesthesia depicts a tugging wave of gentle ennui and explores it gingerly.

Rated: 1.5/5

Mar 4, 2020

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

A disappointing misfire...

Rated: 2/4

Jun 29, 2018

Full Review

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Synopsis

The lives of a self-destructive student (Kristen Stewart), a hard-drinking housewife (Gretchen Mol) and an impoverished junkie (K. Todd Freeman) are linked to the brutal attack of a Columbia University philosophy professor (Sam Waterston).

Director: Tim Blake Nelson
Screenwriter: Tim Blake Nelson
Distributor: IFC Films
Production Co: Grand Schema
Rating: R (Sexual Content|Brief Violence|Language|Drug Use)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 8, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 19, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $22.4K

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