Black Widow

"Her world. Her secrets. Her legacy."

2021 2h 14m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

🍅

79%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.6

IMDB

★7.1TMDB · 11,679🍅79%Rotten Tomatoes●68Metacritic★6.6IMDB · 476,594

ActionAdventureScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Natasha Romanoff, also known as Black Widow, confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.

“Her world. Her secrets. Her legacy.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Disney PlusSubscription

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Scarlett Johansson
Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow
Florence Pugh
Yelena Belova
Rachel Weisz
Melina
David Harbour
Alexei
Ray Winstone
Dreykov
Ever Anderson
Young Natasha
Violet McGraw
Young Yelena
O-T Fagbenle
Mason

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Cate Shortland
Writers: Darrin Denlinger, Michael Anthony Jackson, Todd Harris
Languages: English, Russian
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 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Budget of $200M — blockbuster tier. Only ~1% of films ever made reach this.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 5 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Russian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Directed by Cate Shortland, shot by Gabriel Beristain. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh and Rachel Weisz carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Cate Shortland directs. Gabriel Beristain behind the camera. Lorne Balfe scores. Matthew Schmidt cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Budget of $200M — blockbuster tier. Only ~1% of films ever made reach this.
2Released 5 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Russian.
4433+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Cate Shortland, shot by Gabriel Beristain. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Lorne Balfe. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Matthew Schmidt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh and Rachel Weisz carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Her world. Her secrets. Her legacy.".
10IMDB entry: tt3480822 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1111,679 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
12Classified under 11 themes, including "assassin", "hero", "spy", "kgb".
13Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Gabriel Beristain
Original score: Lorne Balfe
Editing: Matthew Schmidt
Production design: Charles Wood
Costume design: Sue Bradbear
Makeup / hair: Clare Eastham
VFX supervisor: Craig Hammack
Sound: Shannon Mills
Stunt coordinator: Rob Inch
Runtime: 134 min · 2h 14m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $200,000,000
Box office: $379,751,131
Return: 190% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Black Widow (2021)
Rotten Tomatoes: 79% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 68/100
IMDB rating: 6.6/10 · 476,594 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

14 wins & 37 nominations total

Also by

Cate Shortland

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

garethmb2021-06-29
After a delay lasting 19 months; the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has returned to the big screen with “Black Widow”. The film takes place between “Captain America: Civil War” and “Avengers: Infinity War”; audiences get more of the backstory of Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), as we are introduced to her early life before the Red Room. This is not to say that the film is an origin story as it uses her backstory through a clever introduction that establishes her “family” as sleeper agents in Ohio before they escape and she and her cover sister are tuned over for conditioning and training. Since Natasha is on the run from the authorities; she finds a remote location in Norway to bide her time. This does not last as a dangerous adversary known as the Taskmaster arrives and sets a chain of events into motion. Natasha has been sent a package from her cover sister Yelena (Florence Pugh) who also went through the Red Room and became a top assassin in the years since she and Natasha last saw one another. Despite her mixed feelings; Natasha ventures to Budapest and confronts Yelena who in turn reveals the package she sent her contains a compound that can free the other Black Widows from the control of the Red Room which despite Natasha’s insistence is still very much alive as is the head of the institute which she is convinced she killed long ago. With Taskmaster and other Widows hot on their trail, Natasha and Yelena are forced to seek the help of their former “Father” the imprisoned hero Red Guardian (David Harbour), and their cover Mother Melina (Rachel Weisz), to find the location of the new Red Room; free the Widows, and end the program once and for all. What follows is an engaging story with solid action and effects that remains at its core a character story as Natasha attempts to reconcile her cover family with her new Avengers family and the pain of her upbringing and conditioning. Marvel resisted calls from some to release the film on Disney+ last year when the Pandemic caused multiple delays to the planned release dates. This decision to me was very wise as this is a film that needs to be seen and heard on the big screen as it is an experience that is best experienced in a cinema with others. While many attempts were made over the decades to adapt comic heroes to film and television; most of them came up lacking and disappointed fans of the source material. Marvel for over a decade has continued to succeed as they have a clear plan, cast well, and have engaging characters that develop over time. “Black Widow” fills in a missing gap of time in the MCU well and also sets up future adventures as a scene in the credits clearly links two of the live-action Disney+ series and shows that the long-term plan for the MCU continues and incorporates the film and television series well. From the moment the Marvel intro and music appeared on the screen until the very end; “Black Widow” was a very enjoyable and engaging blockbuster adventure that shows Marvel at the top of their game; and why they continue to set event-level movies not to miss. 4 stars out of 5
Manuel São Bento2021-07-08
★ 8/10
Rewatched for the Once Upon a Franchise podcast. Listen to the full episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7i1gu7ICOTWQG3GFXTZli5?si=429741a57c354daf Rating: A- BLACK WIDOW is a satisfying, overdue send-off that finally treats Natasha Romanoff as a fully-realized lead rather than a supporting piece, anchored by a found-family dynamic that's as funny as it is quietly devastating. Florence Pugh's Yelena is the film's MVP and very nearly runs away with the whole movie, the hand-to-hand action is some of the most brutal and tactile the MCU has produced, and the choice to update the Red Room mythology with a sky base and a chemical mind-control agent feels like a genuinely clever evolution of the comics rather than a lazy shortcut. My real frustrations are less about what's on screen and more about timing and polish: this should have been Natasha's film a decade earlier, and the third act's green-screen work occasionally undercuts an otherwise grounded, Bourne-inspired thriller. But it all comes back together for that final shot — sun on Natasha's face, a warm, bittersweet goodbye that this character, and this actress, absolutely earned.
Mahnoor Khan2021-07-15
The first half of black widow was very strong and emotional. Florence Pugh was stellar in this movie. She was brilliant in action sequences and I like the fun elements in her character. Yelena and Natasha's chemistry was too good. David Harbour also performed very well. The action sequences were good but CGI was too weak in the 3d act. Also, I didn't like the changes in Natasha's character. She has no superpowers like other avengers. Her strong brain and mind combine to make her a lethal weapon but they showed her over powerful in this movie. The inner wounds of Natasha were beautifully delivered in this movie. I liked the movie but because of Florence only.