Sign up
Trailer

Waiting for the Barbarians

2020Movie1 h 52 minR

DramaHistory
56
DecentGoodWatch score
IMDb6.0Letterboxd3.0/5Metacritic526.3Rotten Tomatoes53%60%

A melancholic, bleak drama movie about politics and society.

Good for friends night · teens · drop-in friendly

Skip it if you need an uplifting mood · you want fast pacing

Where to watch

Fingerprint

Not for laughs, warmth or comfort.

Movies with

Story

At an isolated frontier outpost, a colonial magistrate suffers a crisis of conscience when an army colonel arrives looking to interrogate the locals about an impending uprising, using cruel tactics that horrify the magistrate.

Feels like

  • Colonialism
  • Moral Crisis
  • Frontier Outpost
  • Psychological Drama
  • Political Intrigue
  • Slow Burn
  • Character Study
  • Apartheid Allegory

Cast

20 of 20

Crew

Directed by
Ciro Guerra
Written by
Ciro Guerra, J.M. Coetzee
Produced by
Olga Segura-Gall, Michael Fitzgerald, Monika Bacardi
Music by
Giampiero Ambrosi

Everyone

Pick a department, or search for a name or a job (“editor”, “stunt”).

Facts

July 30, 2020 · 1 h 52 min · R

Released
July 30, 2020
Runtime
1 h 52 min
Age rating
R
Content
Violence, Disturbing Imagery
Genres
Drama, History
Original language
English
Also spoken
Mongolian
Made in
Italy, United States
Box office
$761,361
Available in
52 countries
Keywords
based on novel or book

Q&A

3 questions, like "Where can I stream Waiting for the Barbarians?"

Questions about Waiting for the Barbarians

Quick answers from GoodWatch data.

Where can I stream Waiting for the Barbarians?

NetflixPrimeThe CWKanopyHooplaPluto TVPlexFawesome

In the United States, Waiting for the Barbarians streams on Netflix and Prime, and it is free with ads on The CW, Kanopy, Hoopla, Pluto TV, Plex, Fawesome, and Tubi TV. You can rent or buy it from Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, and Fandango At Home. It also streams in 35 other countries.

Is Waiting for the Barbarians worth watching?

56
DecentGoodWatch score

Opinions are mixed, with a GoodWatch score of 56 (IMDb 6, Letterboxd 3.0 out of 5, Rotten Tomatoes 53%, and Metacritic 52).

Will I feel good after watching Waiting for the Barbarians?

BleakHopeful

Probably not: the title analysis rates it 8 of 10 for bleakness and 8 for melancholy, against 3 for hopefulness.