Essential Killing fingerprintRelentless energy, striking style, emotionally cool.
Nerve-racking and brutally violent
Builds slowly, so the intensity comes in waves.
Moving and melancholic
A little humor
Not a comedy at heart.
War, the mind, and everyday modern life
Lived-in and easy to get lost in.
Standout direction and performances
Standout cinematography, editing, and sound design
Nerve-racking and brutally violent
Builds slowly, so the intensity comes in waves.
Essential Killing is nerve-racking, brutally violent, and thrilling. The story builds slowly, so the intensity comes in waves.
Moving and melancholic
Emotionally, it's moving and melancholic.
A little humor
Not a comedy at heart.
Expect a little humor.
War, the mind, and everyday modern life
Lived-in and easy to get lost in.
Its world is built around war, the mind, and everyday modern life. The setting feels lived-in and easy to get lost in. It leaves some questions open.
Standout direction and performances
The direction and performances stand out.
Standout cinematography, editing, and sound design
Look and sound: the cinematography, editing, and sound design stand out.
Based on the GoodWatch fingerprint: our scores for 70+ attributes of every movie. Select a row to see all of them.
Run to live... kill to survive.
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Essential Killing2010
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Quick answers from GoodWatch data.
You can watch it free with ads on Kanopy, Hoopla, and Pluto TV. You can also rent or buy it from Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, and Fandango At Home. All links in Where to Watch go to these licensed services.
Mostly. It's well received, with a GoodWatch score of 66/100 (IMDb 6.1 and Rotten Tomatoes 77%). The GoodWatch score combines critic and audience ratings.
Content advisories: violence and disturbing imagery.
1 h 24 min
Essential Killing runs 1 h 24 min.
Not quite. Critics rate Essential Killing higher (77) than audiences (54). It may be more rewarding than it is crowd-pleasing.
It was made in English, with some Polish, Arabic. Produced in Poland, Norway, Ireland, Hungary.
+14GoodWatch finds legal streaming, rental, or purchase options for Essential Killing in 28 countries. Pick any of them in Where to Watch to see the local services.
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