Death Becomes Her | Rotten Tomatoes

Death Becomes Her

PG-13

Now Playing

1 hr. 43 min.

Comedy

Fantasy

List

55%

56 Reviews

Tomatometer

61%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

When a novelist loses her man to a movie star and former friend, she winds up in a psychiatric hospital. Years later, she returns home to confront the now-married couple, looking radiant. Her ex-husband's new wife wants to know her secret, and discovers that she has been taking a mysterious drug which grants eternal life to the person who drinks it. The actress follows suit, but discovers that immortality has a price.

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Critics Consensus

Hawn and Streep are as fabulous as Death Becomes Her's innovative special effects; Zemeckis' satire, on the other hand, is as hollow as the world it mocks.

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V M

Campy, funny and just a great laugh!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/11/24

Full Review

Dana H

One of the most iconic movies ever. Underrated by the uncultured!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/02/24

Full Review

Audience Member

It’s funny and campy and I Love it

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/09/23

Full Review

Wolfgang S

Death Becomes Her became a cult classic. It never received very well. Main criticism was characters were too shallow. Well they have to be shallow anyway. There are really good lines in the movie.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/06/23

Full Review

Cole T

Very underrated, all the cast gives amazing performances and exciting and clever script, also a very interesting concept. This is a fun one.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/19/23

Full Review

Finn P

This movie walked so frabkenhooker could run

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/28/23

Full Review

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Robert Zemeckis

Director

Meryl Streep

Madeline Ashton

Bruce Willis

Ernest Menville

Goldie Hawn

Helen Sharp

Isabella Rossellini

Lisle Von Rhuman

Ian Ogilvy

Chagall

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Death Becomes Her: Official Clip - Helen Pays Ernest a Visit

1:30

Death Becomes Her: Official Clip - Plotting Madeline's Death

2:00

Death Becomes Her: Official Clip - Eternal Youth

2:59

Death Becomes Her: Official Clip - Medical Mystery

2:59

Death Becomes Her: Official Clip - Madeline Takes a Fall

2:35

Death Becomes Her: Official Clip - Shovel Showdown

2:48

Death Becomes Her: Official Clip - Ernest's Escape

2:35

Death Becomes Her: Official Clip - Madeline's Revenge

2:58

Death Becomes Her: Official Clip - Friends Forever

1:18

Death Becomes Her: Official Clip - At Home With Helen

1:54

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David Denby

New York Magazine/Vulture

The target of the movie's jokes is female vanity, but since Zemeckis exhibits not a trace of affection for the actresses (or for any of the men, either), one feels humiliated merely watching his crude-spirited wit.

May 11, 2021

Full Review

Jay Boyar

Orlando Sentinel

This new horror-comedy has to be one of the most heartless mainstream pictures ever made.

Jan 3, 2019

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

If there were something resembling genuine satire of human behavior beyond the simple pretexts for fancy special effects and relentless sadism, I might have found some of this funny.

Jan 3, 2019

Full Review

B.L. Panther

Paste Magazine

Death Becomes Her is a magical and delightful illustration of queerness without sexuality.

Rated: A-

Oct 2, 2023

Full Review

Luke Buckmaster

Flicks (AU, NZ, UK)

The mood conjured by Zemeckis is midnight movie meets cartoon meets shrill melodrama meets showbiz satire

Feb 14, 2023

Full Review

Jennie Kermode

Eye for Film

Its stars [are] easily able to keep pace with its big dramatic beats, and Zemeckis directs with the confidence essential to comedy. Death Becomes Her doesn't pull any punches. Hollywood deserved it, and so do you.

Rated: 4.5/5

Sep 23, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

When a novelist loses her man to a movie star and former friend, she winds up in a psychiatric hospital. Years later, she returns home to confront the now-married couple, looking radiant. Her ex-husband's new wife wants to know her secret, and discovers that she has been taking a mysterious drug which grants eternal life to the person who drinks it. The actress follows suit, but discovers that immortality has a price.

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Screenwriter: Martin Donovan, David Koepp
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Universal Pictures
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 31, 1992, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 17, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $58.4M
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo

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