Begotten

1991 1h 12m EN

😐

6.0

MID

🍅

73%

FRESH

⭐

5.5

IMDB

★6.0TMDB · 377🍅73%Rotten Tomatoes★5.5IMDB · 12,901

FantasyHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Begotten is the creation myth brought to life, the story of no less than the violent death of God and the (re)birth of nature on a barren earth.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Brian Salzburg
God Killing Himself
Donna Dempsey
Mother Earth
Stephen Charles Barry
Son of Earth

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: E. Elias Merhige
Writers: E. Elias Merhige
Languages: No Language
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 72-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

35 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Part of the "The Begotten Cycle" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by E. Elias Merhige, shot by E. Elias Merhige. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Evan Albam. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Noëlle Penraat shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

E. Elias Merhige directs. E. Elias Merhige behind the camera. Evan Albam scores. Noëlle Penraat cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in No Language.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 72-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
2Shot for just $0.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
335 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Part of the "The Begotten Cycle" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
6Directed by E. Elias Merhige, shot by E. Elias Merhige. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Evan Albam. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Noëlle Penraat shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Brian Salzburg and Donna Dempsey and Stephen Charles Barry carry the top of the cast.
10IMDB entry: tt0101420 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 24 themes, including "nihilism", "necrophilia", "pregnancy", "razor".

The technical file

Cinematography: E. Elias Merhige
Original score: Evan Albam
Editing: Noëlle Penraat
Costume design: Harry Duggins
Runtime: 72 min · 1h 12m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $33,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Begotten (1991)
Rotten Tomatoes: 73% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 5.5/10 · 12,901 votes
MPAA: Unrated

Part of

The Begotten Cycle

Begotten is considered by Merhige himself as the start of an unofficial trilogy. There is a prologue to the intended second installment in the trilogy, which is the 14-minute short Din of Celestial Birds, which deals with evolution and premiered in 2006 on Turner Classic Movies, and was shot in similar visual fashion as Begotten.

Also by

E. Elias Merhige

Stills · wallpapers

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Cyberknight2019-09-22
★ 1/10
Making use of low quality film to give the images a pretentious artistic look (and hide the low budget make-up and practical effects) doesn't work if there is no good plot to hold them together. It's a hard to watch film, because of the low quality, not because of the imagery. Boring through and through.

Production companies