Serenity

"On Plymouth Island, no one ever dies… unless you break the rules"

2019 1h 42m EN

😐

5.5

MID

🥫

21%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

5.4

IMDB

★5.5TMDB · 1,667🥫21%Rotten Tomatoes●37Metacritic★5.4IMDB · 49,013

ThrillerMysteryDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The quiet life of Baker Dill, a fishing boat captain who lives on the isolated Plymouth Island, where he spends his days obsessed with capturing an elusive tuna while fighting his personal demons, is interrupted when someone from his past comes to him searching for help.

“On Plymouth Island, no one ever dies… unless you break the rules”

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Cast

Matthew McConaughey
Baker Dill
Anne Hathaway
Karen Zariakas
Jason Clarke
Frank Zariakas
Diane Lane
Constance
Djimon Hounsou
Duke
Jeremy Strong
Reid Miller
Charlotte Butler
Lois
David Butler
Jack

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Steven Knight
Writers: Steven Knight
Languages: English, French
Countries: 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 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 58% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 7 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Steven Knight, shot by Jess Hall. 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 Benjamin Wallfisch. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Laura Jennings 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

Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway and Jason Clarke carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "On Plymouth Island, no one ever dies… unless you break the rules".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Steven Knight directs. Jess Hall behind the camera. Benjamin Wallfisch scores. Laura Jennings cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 58% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 7 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.
4Directed by Steven Knight, shot by Jess Hall. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Benjamin Wallfisch. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Laura Jennings shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway and Jason Clarke carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "On Plymouth Island, no one ever dies… unless you break the rules".
9IMDB entry: tt6476140 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 16 themes, including "video game", "virtual reality", "fisherman", "domestic violence".

The technical file

Cinematography: Jess Hall
Original score: Benjamin Wallfisch
Editing: Laura Jennings
Production design: Andrew McAlpine
Makeup / hair: Natasha Fagri
VFX supervisor: Angela Barson
Sound: Sven Taits
Stunt coordinator: Cordell McQueen
Runtime: 102 min · 1h 42m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $25,000,000
Box office: $14,500,000
Return: 58% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Serenity (2019)
Rotten Tomatoes: 21% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 37/100
IMDB rating: 5.4/10 · 49,013 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

3 wins & 5 nominations total

Also by

Steven Knight

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Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Manuel São Bento2019-01-28
★ 2/10
If you enjoy reading my Spoiler-Free reviews, please follow my blog :) I will always respect and appreciate the will of a director/writer in trying to do something bold and bonkers. Whether that’s a divisive plot twist, a double-faced character or even an unusual method of filming, it doesn’t really matter, as long as it succeeds. Steven Knight delivers a story that doesn’t feel right from the get-go. Everything feels strange and random, with weird dialogues and awkward hints at something underneath it all. Then, a somewhat predictable plot twist changes pretty much everything since our perspective is entirely different now. However, it sinks the movie even more and creates a whole bunch of incongruencies and plot holes. The film wasn’t near good before the twist, and it gradually transformed itself into something jaw-droppingly bad, after it. In addition to this, the final message that Steven Knight leaves the audience with, is probably one of the worst ones since The Emoji Movie. “Doing the wrong things for the right reasons” is always going to be a controversial statement, but in this particular case, having in mind what happens in the movie and who does it involve, it’s 100% wrong and I want to believe that Knight didn’t exactly want to transmit this in the way that he did. There’s an intriguing and meaningful story to be told deep down in this messy screenplay. Behind all of the unnecessary exposition scenes (there’s no need to describe what’s happening since the twist is quite self-explanatory) and cringe-worthy dialogues, there’s a well-structured narrative and an extraordinary concept to be explored. However, I have no idea what happened to the script nor the production and filming stages of the film, but I understand now why its original release date in October was postponed to the traditional January’s garbage. This was supposed to be an Oscar-bait movie: an Oscar-nominated director/writer plus two Oscar-winner protagonists, in a film that seems to be more than what it actually is? I guess the production companies saw this coming and they tried to prevent an even bigger flop. I’m always the first to defend that a movie without at least “good” technical attributes is rarely one of the best of the year. However, I’m also the first to affirm that if a film fails to deliver a captivating story with compelling characters, there’s no magnificent cinematography or mind-blowing special effects that can salvage it. Serenity doesn’t even have that. Despite me feeling pleased that it was filmed in one-location and that the set design is pretty sweet, the editing is incredibly choppy. It feels like Knight had to remove several cuts in order to reduce the overlong runtime, which wasn’t performed in the best way possible. There are a lot of moments where a character is facing a side, and in the next cut, the former is already facing a completely different one (this particular thing really occurs often). Regarding the characters, Baker and his son are definitely the ones that we learn more about since their connection is continuously addressed. Like I wrote above, there’s a relevant story behind all of this mayhem, but I did saw (even if briefly) the light at the end of this very dark tunnel. That light is instantly consumed by the darkness as new characters or subplots start to show up, and the hollowness prevails over everything else. Jeremy Strong’s character is baffling ridiculous, Diane Lane (Constance) is one of the dozens of logical reasons why the twist doesn’t work, but the one who annoyed me the most didn’t even show up. You spend a whole movie talking about this one person, like it is going to be a crucial subplot, and then you forget about it. You merely end the film, and it’s like that character was never even mentioned… Why? Why give even more reasons for someone to leave the theater frustrated? Then, there’s the tone. It’s weird until the twist and weirder after it. Not even Matthew McConaughey or Anne Hathaway can save themselves from some awfully delivered lines. Nevertheless, it’s the cast who saves this wreckage of being an F. McConaughey is a hell of an actor and he demonstrates his outstanding range throughout the runtime. Hathaway has less to do, and I felt that her lines were the worst, but I can’t argue with her ability to deliver any emotion. Jason Clarke (Frank Zariakas) is perfect as the violent father/husband, and Djimon Hounsou (Duke) has some space to shine. In the end, Serenity tries to go big and bold, but falls astonishingly flat. Plot holes, logical incongruencies, awful dialogues, terrible editing, hollow characters, and neglected subplots. Steven Knight had a great concept and a truly interesting thriller-mystery in his mind, but his execution is shockingly baffling, and the twist transforms everything into something way worse. The final message is the number one reason why I don’t recommend anyone to see this movie, especially if you take teens or kids with you. Matthew McConaughey is good enough to avoid a total disaster, and I know that there was something incredible behind all of this horrible mess. It’s probably going to end up as one of the worst films of 2019, unless we have a truly disastrous year in cinema. Rating: D-
tmdb152146182019-05-06
★ 10/10
This is insane, which is why I really like it. It's original, it had my attention throughout the entire runtime, and I can't remember the last time I got this many chills--maybe never! I'll admit it fails to ever become cohesive but it's got so much fucking flavour that I can't not gulp it down. What would one call this? Artsy schlock? This is artsy schlock. This is my initial rating upon a first watch; it is possible I will feel differently about the film on a second watch.
Gimly2019-08-25
★ 3/10
One of the weirder films I've seen recently. And I like weird, I just don't like... This. Credit where credit's due though, both Anne Hathaway and Jason Clarke are one hundred percent believable in their roles, which is impressive given the setting, and... Terrifying, given their relationship dynamic. Final rating:★½: - Boring/disappointing. Avoid where possible.