Death Becomes Her

"In one small bottle... The fountain of youth. The secret of eternal life. The power of an ancient potion. Sometimes it works... sometimes it doesn't."

1992 1h 44m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 3,121

ComedyFantasyHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Madeline is married to Ernest, who was once her arch-rival Helen's fiancé. After recovering from a mental breakdown, Helen vows to kill Madeline and steal back Ernest. Unfortunately for everyone, the introduction of a magic potion causes things to be a great deal more complicated than a mere murder plot.

“In one small bottle... The fountain of youth. The secret of eternal life. The power of an ancient potion. Sometimes it works... sometimes it doesn't.”

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Cast

Meryl Streep
Madeline Ashton Menville
Goldie Hawn
Helen Sharp
Bruce Willis
Dr. Ernest Menville
Isabella Rossellini
Lisle von Rhuman
Ian Ogilvy
Chagall
Adam Storke
Dakota
Alaina Reed Hall
Psychologist
Nancy Fish
Rose

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writers: David Koepp, Martin Donovan
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 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $55M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CAST

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, shot by Dean Cundey. 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 Alan Silvestri. 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 Arthur Schmidt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "In one small bottle... The fountain of youth. The secret of eternal life. The power of an ancient potion. Sometimes it works... sometimes it doesn't.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Robert Zemeckis directs. Dean Cundey behind the camera. Alan Silvestri scores. Arthur Schmidt cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $55M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
234 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3233+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
4Directed by Robert Zemeckis, shot by Dean Cundey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Alan Silvestri. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Arthur Schmidt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "In one small bottle... The fountain of youth. The secret of eternal life. The power of an ancient potion. Sometimes it works... sometimes it doesn't.".
9IMDB entry: tt0104070 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 9 themes, including "jealousy", "immortality", "halloween", "beauty".
11Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Dean Cundey
Original score: Alan Silvestri
Editing: Arthur Schmidt
Production design: Rick Carter
Costume design: Joanna Johnston
Makeup / hair: Michael Mills
VFX supervisor: Ken Ralston
Sound: Rick Alexander
Stunt coordinator: Walter Scott
Runtime: 104 min · 1h 44m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $55,000,000
Box office: $149,000,000
Return: 271% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Death Becomes Her (1992)

Awards

BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects
Academy Award for Best Visual Effects

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

Also by

Robert Zemeckis

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-06-29
★ 7/10
"Helen" (Goldie Hawn) has always lived in the shadow of her friend, the successful actress "Madeline" (Meryl Streep), but when she loses her fiancée - renowned, if rather dowdy, plastic surgeon "Dr. Menville" (Bruce Willis) to her, she loses the plot. Eventually twice the size and evicted from her apartment with her hands still glued to the ice cream pot, she is sent to a mental institution were she finally concocts a plan for revenge. Meantime, the marriage has rather gone to seed. "Madeline" seeks comfort in the arms of younger men, but when her latest beau rejects her, she finds herself - via the kindly intervention of an almost unrecognisable Ian Ogilvy ("Chagall") - in the lair of the seductive "Lisle von Rhuman" (Isabella Rossellini) who offers her eternal youth. Of course there is a price - but will she pay it? What ensues for the last forty five minutes is really quite entertaining. Streep and Hawn look like they are enjoying themselves as their antics become comically macabre. Willis, the now bottle-hitting doctor - who has been largely reduced to manicuring corpses - is also clearly having some fun and Rossellini hams up wonderfully. The ending isn't my favourite, but I suppose it was "fair" and desserts were just. This is an amiable, feel-good, comedy with everyone on good form, some lovely snide dialogue and I liked it.
daniel_carr2025-12-30
★ 7/10
Funny, great story and a twist in the plot! I'm a sci-fi, fantasy guy and this checked all the boxes for my. Even had romance, so it was a good movie. Had some big names so only thing missing for me was a little more action and a deeper history.