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MONEY
Did you know
Grossed $234M — a 16.7× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
MoodPlayr · trivia#01
The Imitation Game
"The true enigma was the man who cracked the code."
2014 1h 53m EN
🙌
8.0
BANGER
🔥
90%
CERTIFIED FRESH
👌
71
METACRITIC
⭐
8
IMDB
★8.0TMDB · 18,490🍅90%Rotten Tomatoes●71Metacritic★8IMDB · 886,633
HistoryDramaThrillerWar
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.
“The true enigma was the man who cracked the code.”
Cast
Benedict Cumberbatch
Alan Turing
Keira Knightley
Joan Clarke
Matthew Goode
Hugh Alexander
Rory Kinnear
Detective Robert Nock
Allen Leech
John Cairncross
Matthew Beard
Peter Hilton
Charles Dance
Commander Denniston
Mark Strong
Stewart Menzies
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- Morten Tyldum
- Writers
- Graham Moore
- Languages
- English
- Countries
- United States of America, United Kingdom
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 🍿
2 / 8
ERA
Did you know
Released 12 years ago.
MoodPlayr · trivia#02
3 / 8
WORLD
Did you know
International production across 2 countries: United States of America, United Kingdom.
MoodPlayr · trivia#03
4 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Directed by Morten Tyldum, shot by Óscar Faura. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
MoodPlayr · trivia#04
5 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Original score by Alexandre Desplat. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
MoodPlayr · trivia#05
6 / 8
ERA
Did you know
Editor William Goldenberg shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
MoodPlayr · trivia#06
7 / 8
CAST
Did you know
Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley and Matthew Goode carry the top of the cast.
MoodPlayr · trivia#07
8 / 8
FACT
Did you know
Marketing tagline: "The true enigma was the man who cracked the code.".
MoodPlayr · trivia#08
Cinephile deep dive
The take
Morten Tyldum directs. Óscar Faura behind the camera. Alexandre Desplat scores. William Goldenberg cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America, United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 1Grossed $234M — a 16.7× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
- 2Released 12 years ago.
- 3International production across 2 countries: United States of America, United Kingdom.
- 4Directed by Morten Tyldum, shot by Óscar Faura. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 5Original score by Alexandre Desplat. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
- 6Editor William Goldenberg shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
- 7Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley and Matthew Goode carry the top of the cast.
- 8Marketing tagline: "The true enigma was the man who cracked the code.".
- 9IMDB entry: tt2084970 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 1018,490 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
- 11Classified under 16 themes, including "england", "homophobia", "world war ii", "mathematician".
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Óscar Faura
- Original score
- Alexandre Desplat
- Editing
- William Goldenberg
- Production design
- Maria Djurkovic
- Costume design
- Sammy Sheldon
- Makeup / hair
- Denise Kum
- VFX supervisor
- Eran Barnea
- Sound
- Andy Kennedy
- Runtime
- 113 min · 1h 53m
- Aspect ratio (typical)
- 1.37:1 (Academy)
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $14,000,000
- Box office
- $233,555,708
- Return
- 1668% of budget
- Original language
- EN
- Certification (US)
- PG-13
- Rotten Tomatoes
- 90% 🍅 Fresh
- Metacritic
- 71/100
- IMDB rating
- 8/10 · 886,633 votes
- MPAA
- PG-13
Awards
Won 1 Oscar. 49 wins & 169 nominations total
- National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
- Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.
Also by
Morten Tyldum
Stills · wallpapers
Selected frames
Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.
Trailers & featurettes
Watch the pieces
Community reviews
What people are saying
- Aaaidan★ 1/10
The first time I saw this movie, I loved it. It made me want to learn more about Alan Turing, but the more I learned, the more I realised how inaccurate this movie is. It is well acted, well produced, well cast, and I would still love it if not for the fact that it differs so much from what really happened that it would have been more appropriate to change all the names and portray it as purely historical fiction rather than pretending it has anything to do with the real Alan Turing.
- Nathan★ 9/10
Benedict Cumberbatch is fantastic in this movie. I really dug this. Love movies set during WWII and this one encapsulates it brilliantly. Felt they did the story justice while also having an underlying message on acceptance. Score: 90% Verdict: Excellent
- CinemaSerf★ 6/10
Whilst I did enjoy this telling of the wartime efforts of the British code-breakers at Bletchley Park, I think I prefer Sir Derek Jacobi's 1996 interpretation of the achievements of Alan Turing, the brilliant mathematician who led a team of enigmatic individuals who broke the Nazi "Enigma" code. Benedict Cumberbatch is really just reprising his BBC "Sherlock" characterisation - even down to the pensive hand gestures. The story is told from quite an interesting retrospection after the pretty unlikeable Turing has been apprehended by the police for what I suppose we'd call "lewd behaviour" nowadays and is being questioned by Rory Kinnear ("Detective Nock"). Indeed, I found all the characterisations to be a bit shallow - Charles Dance, Keira Knightley and Matthew Goode just lacked oomph, I thought. Fascinating story , though - beautifully well presented.
Production companies
Who made it
- BR
Bristol Automotive
US
Black Bear Pictures
US
FilmNation Entertainment
US
Key crew
- BookAndrew Hodges
- First Assistant DirectorPhil Booth
- Second Assistant DirectorJames Manning
- "A" Camera OperatorAlbert Carreras
- First Assistant "A" CameraTim Battersby
- Second Assistant "A" CameraSimon Surtees
- "B" Camera OperatorMarc Gómez del Moral
- First Assistant "B" CameraRory Moles
- Second Assistant "B" CameraAlexandra Voikou
- Key GripGary Hutchings
- Second Unit DirectorCrispin Reece
- Second Unit Director of PhotographySteven Hall
- EditorWilliam Goldenberg
- CastingNina Gold
- Production DesignMaria Djurkovic
- Art DirectionRebecca Milton
- Art DirectionMarco Anton Restivo
- Costume DesignSammy Sheldon
- ProducerNora Grossman
- Executive ProducerGraham Moore
- ProducerIdo Ostrowsky
- ProducerTeddy Schwarzman
- Co-ProducerPeter Heslop
- Makeup ArtistDenise Kum
Themes & keywords
What it's about, really
- england
- homophobia
- world war ii
- mathematician
- genius
- biography
- based on true story
- male homosexuality
- code breaking
- lgbt
- logician
- cryptography
- math genius
- gay theme
- inspirational
- codes
Release history · US
When it landed
- Premiere2014-08-29PG-13· Telluride Film Festival
- Premiere2014-09-27· San Diego Film Festival
- Premiere2014-09-28· Aspen Film Festival
- Premiere2014-10-04· Mill Valley Film Festival
- Premiere2014-10-05· Milwaukee Film Festival
- Premiere2014-10-11· Hamptons International Film Festival / Scottsdale International Film Festival
- Premiere2014-10-12· Kansas International Film Festival
- Premiere2014-10-16· Chicago International Film Festival / Woodstock Film Festival
- Premiere2014-10-18· Philadelphia International Film Festival
- Premiere2014-10-19· New Orleans Film Festival
Also known as
International titles
- 模拟游戏CN
- Імітаційна граUA
- Descifrando EnigmaES
- Código EnigmaCO
- 解碼遊戲HK
- 解碼遊戲(2015)HK
- The Imitation GameUS
- Իմիտացիոն խաղերAM
- ImitationsspeletFI
