Wit

"It appears to be a matter of life and death."

2001 1h 39m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 134

DramaTV Movie

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A renowned professor is forced to reassess her life when she is diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer.

“It appears to be a matter of life and death.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Emma Thompson
Vivian Bearing
Audra McDonald
Susie Monahan
Jonathan M. Woodward
Dr Jason Posner
Christopher Lloyd
Dr. Harvey Kelekian
Eileen Atkins
Evelyn 'E.M' Ashford
Benedict Wong
Fellow 2
Harold Pinter
Mr. Bearing
Raffaello Degruttola
Technician 1

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Mike Nichols
Writers: Margaret Edson, Emma Thompson, Mike Nichols
Languages: English
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 / 7

ERA

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Mike Nichols, shot by Seamus McGarvey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Emma Thompson and Audra McDonald and Jonathan M. Woodward carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "It appears to be a matter of life and death.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0243664 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mike Nichols directs. Seamus McGarvey behind the camera. Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki scores. John Bloom cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

125 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Mike Nichols, shot by Seamus McGarvey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor John Bloom shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Emma Thompson and Audra McDonald and Jonathan M. Woodward carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "It appears to be a matter of life and death.".
7IMDB entry: tt0243664 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 10 themes, including "nurse", "poetry", "professor", "cancer".
9Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Seamus McGarvey
Original score: Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki
Editing: John Bloom
Production design: Stuart Wurtzel
Costume design: Ann Roth
Makeup / hair: Linda DeVetta
Sound: Lee Dichter
Stunt coordinator: Gareth Milne
Runtime: 99 min · 1h 39m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Wit (2001)

Also by

Mike Nichols

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-07-12
★ 7/10
If you recall the "Paper Chase" (1973) you'll be familiar with the concept of a hard-nosed academic who teaches students with a barely veiled sense of contempt and ruthlessness. Well skip on almost three decades and it's Emma Thompson's "Vivian" who rules her class of English literature students with a similarly unforgiving rod of iron. Then she starts to feel a bit ropey and after a visit to her doctor (Christopher Lloyd) is told she has a metastatic ovarian cancer that is going to need one hell of a brutal chemotherapy treatment if she is to have any chance at all of survival. Attended now by "Jason" (Jonathan M. Woodward) a former pupil who claims to have revelled in her John Donne classes of metaphysical poetry, and nurse "Susie" (Audra McDonald), we follow her increasingly intense and debilitating treatment whilst flash-backing through her own life as a timid academic under the tuition of the equally formidable "E.M." (Eileen Atkins). Aside from those occasional retrospectives, we spend most of the film in her hospital room where she initially delivers something akin to a video diary to the camera - complete with some acerbic observations about her "having a nice day"; but as the drugs begin to take their toll; her hair falls out; her skin turns a jaundiced tone of yellow and the pain starts to kick in, we witness the direct impact of her illness on this woman whose strengths are gradually being eroded. There is something viscerally effective about Thompson's effort here. Her portrayal of a character gradually stripped of her intellect and her dignity is really quite difficult to watch - especially as we reach a conclusion. The engaging Woodward works really quite well here, too. His almost flighty approach to his patient - something of the pop in, sign the form, check the machines then move out approach to his work is symptomatic of the time constraints put on any doctor, but as he observes her decline both physically and psychologically, we can see the effect that is having on his own enthusiasm for a vocation that has, hitherto, been untouched by this kind of trauma. McDonald and an ice lolly are also worth mentioning here as both symbolise quite touchingly one of the few scenes where care appears to be important throughout this drama, and it showcases something of the human elements that must make nursing such a rewarding yet draining profession. As cinema depictions of this pernicious disease go, this presents us with an authentically chilling exhibition of just how destructive cancer can be and of just how toxic and destructive it's treatments can be too.

Production companies