Girl, Interrupted

"Sometimes the only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy."

1999 2h 7m EN

🙌

7.6

BANGER

🥫

53%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

7.3

IMDB

★7.6TMDB · 4,312🥫53%Rotten Tomatoes●51Metacritic★7.3IMDB · 226,524

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Set in the changing world of the late 1960s, Susanna Kaysen's prescribed "short rest" from a psychiatrist she had met only once becomes a strange, unknown journey into Alice's Wonderland, where she struggles with the thin line between normal and crazy. Susanna soon realizes how hard it is to get out once she has been committed, and she ultimately has to choose between the world of people who belong inside or the difficult world of reality outside.

“Sometimes the only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy.”

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Cast

Winona Ryder
Susanna
Angelina Jolie
Lisa
Clea DuVall
Georgina
Brittany Murphy
Daisy
Elisabeth Moss
Polly
Jared Leto
Tobias Jacobs
Jeffrey Tambor
Dr. Potts
Vanessa Redgrave
Dr. Wick

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: James Mangold
Writers: Lisa Loomer, Anna Hamilton Phelan, James Mangold
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

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Directed by James Mangold, shot by Jack N. Green. 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 Mychael Danna. 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 Kevin Tent 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

Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie and Clea DuVall carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Sometimes the only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0172493 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

James Mangold directs. Jack N. Green behind the camera. Mychael Danna scores. Kevin Tent cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

127 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by James Mangold, shot by Jack N. Green. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Mychael Danna. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Kevin Tent shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie and Clea DuVall carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Sometimes the only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy.".
7IMDB entry: tt0172493 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 22 themes, including "suicide", "based on novel or book", "escape", "suicide attempt".
9Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jack N. Green
Original score: Mychael Danna
Editing: Kevin Tent
Production design: Richard Hoover
Costume design: Arianne Phillips
Makeup / hair: Emanuel Millar
VFX supervisor: Ralph Maiers
Sound: Bill W. Benton
Stunt coordinator: Jennifer Lamb
Runtime: 127 min · 2h 7m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.78:1 (16:9)
Status: Released
Budget: $40,000,000
Box office: $48,350,205
Return: 121% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Rotten Tomatoes: 53% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 51/100
IMDB rating: 7.3/10 · 226,524 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 9 wins & 11 nominations total

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

James Mangold

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Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

wizzardss2021-02-25
★ 6/10
Back in the late 1990s, when it was announced that Susanna Kaysen's 1993 memoir Girl, Interrupted would be turned into a movie, many actresses were reportedly fighting to join the cast that included a number of strong female leads. In the end, Winona Ryder was chosen to play Susanna Kaysen, a teenage girl who overdoses on aspirin and is admitted to psychiatric hospital. While in the 1960s institution, she meets and befriends many of the other patients, including sociopath Lisa (Angelina Jolie) and schizophrenic Polly (Elisabeth Moss), and nurses including Valerie (Whoopi Goldberg). It is difficult to believe that at the release of Girl, Interrupted Angeline Jolie was barely starting in her acting career. This was a time before Tomb Raider, and even further before Changeling and Mr and Mrs Smith. Rather, Jolie had a handful of acting credits and one notable film (Gia). So, it is perhaps with huge credit that she was picked to handle such a complex character as Lisa. And it is Lisa who really keeps Girl, Interrupted moving forward, earning Jolie a well deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actress - her only Academy Award to date. Susanna, while the protagonist and perhaps more together mentally, spends most of the film going with the flow, at one moment grateful for the support of her roommate and then the next swept up in Lisa's chaotic whirlwind of destruction, never really offering much to the story other than a set of eyes to view it through. The final act is the explosive conclusion that the film's initial promise deserves, but overall Girl, Interrupted can't shy away from the fact that not a lot really happens over the course of its runtime. Each of the girls are in the institution through no fault of their own, and their personalities are intrinsically linked to their conditions, so it is difficult to follow exactly what their redemption arcs are. Perfectly watchable, especially for Jolie's performance, but by no means a must-see.
Andre Wilfred Sanders2023-07-17
★ 8/10
Sometimes you see them as crazy or mentally ill, but they are the cure that keeps you from going crazy if you love them. The movie touched my feelings when I realized that we were the disease that penetrated their bodies and made these angels crazy
CinemaSerf2024-04-26
★ 7/10
Winona Ryder is on great form here in this rather brutally frank look at a girl struggling with mental health issues. "Susanna" had been rushed to hospital by her worried parents after an apparent attempt at suicide. Diagnosed with a potential personality disorder, she is admitted to the "Claymoore" facility under the care of "Dr. Wick" (Vanessa Redgrave) and nurse "Valerie" (Whoopi Goldberg). As you'd expect, this place has a multitude of characters inside and she (and we) are introduced to a mixture ranging from the pathological liar to the anorexic, the sociopath to the schizophrenic. Some are friendlier to her, others ignore her altogether. It's "Lisa" (Angelina Jolie) whom she seems to relate to her best. She is a controlling character who swings between munificence and malevolence at the drop of an hat whilst giving the staff a constant stream of headaches. On the outside, her recently drafted boyfriend "Tobias" (Jared Leto) is trying to coax her to return to the outside world, but she seems to thrive on the institutionalised nature of her new life, addicted to it even. Gradually, though she begins to appreciate that "Lisa" is a toxic influence on her life - evidenced by a tragedy that really brings things home to her. The ensemble of patients - Clea Duvall, Brittany Murphy and Elizabeth Moss all work well with the sparingly appearing Goldberg and Redgrave to create a really affecting atmosphere here, but it's Jolie who delivers best with a career-defining effort as a creature that it's impossible to like but equally difficult not to feel sympathy for too. It's intensely scripted, occasionally funny and pretty perfectly paced and though not a easy watch, is certainly a powerful one.