Hardcore Henry

"First they made him dangerous. Then they made him mad."

2015 1h 37m EN

😐

6.4

MID

🥫

52%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.7

IMDB

★6.4TMDB · 2,791🥫52%Rotten Tomatoes●51Metacritic★6.7IMDB · 108,110

ActionAdventureScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Henry, a newly resurrected cyborg who must save his wife/creator from the clutches of a psychotic tyrant with telekinetic powers, AKAN, and his army of mercenaries. Fighting alongside Henry is Jimmy, who is Henry's only hope to make it through the day. Hardcore Henry takes place over the course of one day, in Moscow, Russia.

“First they made him dangerous. Then they made him mad.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Andrey Dementyev
Henry / Slick Dmitry
Sharlto Copley
Jimmy
Danila Kozlovsky
Akan
Haley Bennett
Estelle
Tim Roth
Henry's Father
Svetlana Ustinova
Olga the Dominatrix
Dasha Charusha
Katya the Dominatrix
Oleg Poddubnyy
Yuri

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ilya Naishuller
Writers: Ilya Naishuller
Languages: English, Russian
Countries: Russia, China, 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

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 8.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 11 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Russian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Russia, China, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

225+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ilya Naishuller, shot by Pasha Kapinos. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ilya Naishuller directs. Pasha Kapinos behind the camera. Dasha Charusha scores. Steve Mirkovich cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Russia, China, United States of America. Dialogue in English, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 8.4× over at the box office.
3Released 11 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Russian.
5International production across 3 countries: Russia, China, United States of America.
6225+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
7Directed by Ilya Naishuller, shot by Pasha Kapinos. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by Dasha Charusha. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Steve Mirkovich shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Andrey Dementyev and Sharlto Copley and Danila Kozlovsky carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "First they made him dangerous. Then they made him mad.".
12IMDB entry: tt3072482 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
13Classified under 12 themes, including "martial arts", "cyborg", "gore", "murder".

The technical file

Cinematography: Pasha Kapinos
Original score: Dasha Charusha
Editing: Steve Mirkovich
Production design: Margarita Ablaeva
Costume design: Anna Kudevich
Makeup / hair: Tanit Phoenix
VFX supervisor: Marek Jezo
Sound: Jack Whittaker
Stunt coordinator: Aleksandr Kraevskiy
Runtime: 97 min · 1h 37m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,000,000
Box office: $16,810,562
Return: 841% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Hardcore Henry (2015)
Rotten Tomatoes: 52% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 51/100
IMDB rating: 6.7/10 · 108,110 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

1 win & 1 nomination total

Also by

Ilya Naishuller

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2016-07-24
★ 9/10
A video game that you won't play, but watch! The entire story was told from the Henry's perspective, I mean what he sees through his eyes are the visuals we get. The first person point of view. Like the video games, but you won't play, just sit back and watch it. So you won't see the Henry's face, because he's you and you won't utter a word. That character was actually performed by many stuntmen and their risky stunt sequences pay off so well. That means, the main character is the cinematographer of the film. So all the credit must go to them for doing multiple task at a same time. It is a one day event based narration. All about running and chasing, right from the beginning. Along the way it lets us know why it's taking place and who's behind it. The rest of the cast was too amazing, especially that South African actor of 'District 9' fame was simply brilliant with different getups. I also enjoyed the Russian locations which were something refreshing. The story was simple, but puzzled. They explained nearly everything, yet a few doubts remain with us. So I'm expecting a follow-up, more than that I want it to be a trilogy and nothing less. For the sequel, put us in the cinema hall, but give us Virtual Reality Headset, I think that's how the future of cinema should be, especially for this film. Very unique and craziest film, one of the best of this year. It was kind of similar to Statham's 'Crank', as well as good as that one. If you like action films, then surely you would love it. Especially if you're a gamer, then it will be a double treat. The Americans did not show interest in this like usual which is not Hollywood or British. Especially critics never appreciated the creativity, but this is a must see film and the rest of the world accepted the truth. So don't think of skipping it. 8.5/10
Gimly2016-08-21
★ 7/10
"Chronicle" meets "Shoot 'Em Up". Like John Wick, I knew I was going to see this movie when they had a Payday 2 tie-in. But truth be told I was already clued onto it before hand, and it had my interest piqued, because it looked like something new. Which we don't get a whole lot of these days. I went in to Hardcore Henry pretty blind, because the trailers give yo very little information. And that was a good way to watch it. All you need to know going forward is that it's bloody, and it's entirely shot from the first person perspective. If those are both things you can handle, then I can't recommend Hardcore Henry strongly enough. I can understand how these things would turn some people off, and I'm not going to sit here and tell you Hardcore Henry should take home the Oscar for Best Picture, but as en exercise in catharsis it is brilliant, and as a self-aware black comedy, it's even better. There were genuinely more times in this movie that I was out-loud laughing then any other movie I've watched this year. Likewise for the person who saw it with me. Not for the faint of heart, but definitely worth it for someone with similar sensibilities to me. Final rating:★★★½ - I strongly recommend you make the time.
Kamurai2020-10-03
★ 9/10
Fantastic watch, will watch again, and highly recommend. This is one of the most unique and interesting sci-fi action movies I've ever seen. Doing the entire movie from first person perspective is an amazing feat all on its own. If you watch carefully, then the cuts are really subtle if they even exist in places where you would expect them to be. There are a few points of lost consciousness, but those are the more obvious ones. Because it is a "First Person" movie, Andrei Dementiev literally carries the movie through the camera, but Sharlto Copley ("District 9") is the repeating character that helps drive most of the movie, so he would be the traditional carrier, as opposed to the mute camera. Danila Kozlovsky and Haley Bennett give great supporting roles as well. The problem with the main character being "super powered" is that they need drawbacks to balance their benefits so they can "power creep" to match / exceed the villain by the end of the movie, and this follows that formula really nicely and in unexpected manners, unless you've seen "Crank 2: High Voltage". It definitely makes it immersive and enjoyable, and there is even a very well written plot happening.