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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Boys Don't Cry
Fox Searchlight Pictures


8.6

based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 17 votes
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Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for violence including an intense brutal rape scene, sexuality, language and drug use

Starring Hilary Swank, Chloe Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard, Brendan Sexton III, Alicia Goranson, Alison Folland, Jeanetta Arnette, and Rob Campbell

Based on a true story, Brandon Teena (Swank) is the popular new "guy" in a tiny Nebraska town and falls in love with local girl Lana (Sevigny). When it is revealed that Brandon is actually a woman, Lana's family and friends put Brandon's life in jeopardy.

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Kimberly Peirce Andy Bienen
DIRECTED BY:	Kimberly Peirce
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: April 18, 2000 Video: April 18, 2000 Theatrical: October 8, 1999
RUNNING TIME:	118 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

One of the best films of the year.

100

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack

There may not be a better- acted film this year.

100

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

An exceptional--and exceptionally disturbing--film from a first-time director and writer (with Andy Bienen) named Kimberly Pierce. Unflinching, uncompromising, made with complete conviction and rare skill.

100

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

An amazing work, a film that seems to gurgle up from the American heartland, resonant and fully formed, ripe with possibilities.

100

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

For a movie that ends in the profoundest depths of sadness, Boys Don't Cry contains one of the year's purest moments of joy.

100

Boston Globe Jay Carr

"In Cold Blood," "Badlands," "The Executioner's Song," and now, joining those grisly milestones on the heartland hit list, and every bit their equal, is Boys Don't Cry.

100

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

It's Swank, however, who's the revelation. By the end, her Brandon/Teena is beyond male or female. It's as if we were simply glimpsing the character's soul, in all its yearning and conflicted beauty.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

A radically disturbing and memorable movie whose images don't easily fade or diminish in power.

Variety Emanuel Levy

The poignant and candid Boys Don't Cry can be seen as a "Rebel Without a Cause" for these culturally diverse and complex times, with the two misfit girls enacting a version of the James Dean/Natalie Wood romance with utmost conviction.

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

Stunning...a film much tougher and more transfixing than its wan title.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Scorches the screen like a prairie fire.

Newsweek David Ansen

Peirce's taut, sure-footed first film sidesteps sensationalism without sacrificing any of the story's wonder and horror

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

The longest, hardest sit of the season -- you are stuck there, a single tube of puckered muscle, waiting for the extremely ugly violence to occur -- but it is driven by performances of such luminous humanity that they break your heart.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

A haunting, superbly made film. But it's also an unrelentingly sad and depressing experience.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

A remarkable movie that merits a place alongside "The Executioner's Song" and "In Cold Blood" as an unforgettable depiction of tragedy in the heartland.

USA Today Mike Clark

A weeper poised to endure as one of the dominant independent features of the year.

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

Boys Don't Cry's intensity sneaks up on you like a snake.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

A powerful, deeply moving tale, immeasurably facilitated by the performance of relatively unknown Hilary Swank as Brandon...smartly shot and edited, and the performances are dead-on.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

To say this bone-chilling, gut-turning feature is "The Crying Game"-meets-"In Cold Blood." But this is a film - writer/director Peirce's first - that matches those pictures in power, in surprise, and in unnerving drama.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

A stirring, emotionally true testament to foolish bravery as well as shameful evidence of the severity with which it is so often punished.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

A kick to the heart, and Swank is a marvel. Any problems in the storytelling are more than balanced by her wholly committed work.

Dallas Observer Zac Crain

That's possibly Peirce's best trick of all, telling a true story so well that you can't remember how it ends. And when you remember, you hope that you were wrong.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

A powerful piece of social protest, skillfully written, directed, and acted...Hilary Swank as Brandon and Chloe Sevigny as his girlfriend Lana are especially fine.

Film.com Gemma Files

An incredible star turn from Hilary Swank.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

A shockingly intimate and deeply affecting film about the roots of sexual role playing.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Gripping, and it's moving, but it isn't particularly subtle. There's a strong thread of tabloid drama running through its core -- but at least it's sensationalistic storytelling with a heart.

Film.com Ernest Hardy

To watch Sevigny's Lana slowly thaw to Brandon is to see the transformative, heartbreaking power of romance in a way that Hollywood is rarely able to capture anymore.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Swank gives one of the year's most complex and hard-hitting performances in the demanding central role.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Free of the disclaiming jokey sneer that defaces so much of contemporary neo-noir.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Swank's nuanced performance is remarkable and it's a powerful film.

TNT RoughCut Christopher Brandon

It's essentially a play-by-play of events that's so cheaply made it reeks of made-for-TV status.

Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday

Too sketchy about her protagonist's interior life, and too fast and loose with the details of this story, to make much of an impact beyond its initial shock.

Time Elizabeth L. Bland

The movie lets down the material. It's to cool: all attitude, no sizzle.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 17 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Dene L. gave it a10:
This movie is truly amazing, sad, and a true tear-jerker. It was well made and even though it didn't stay true to the real Teena Brandon, Swank acting was great.

An L. gave it a9:
This movie is like a dark coffee candy. It is so bitter and yet for moments we can feel the tenderness, the compassion and love exude from the movie. There are some painful scenes to endure but those are what make the movie linger in our heart long after the credits rolls. This movie is a raw, naked beauty.

snoopy w. gave it a10:
Un tres beau film a voir absolument !!

Buttered Popcorn gave it a 10:
This movie is amazing. I saw it almost a year ago and it leaves a lasting impression. This is a roller-coaster ride of a movie. You will be scared stiff, but the last thing you would ever do is get off. A very new fresh vision, beautifully told, with great acting. Mesmerizing.

Everett gave it a 4:
Just like the other more recent "true story", "Monster", it's a very mediocre movie with a very powerful lead acting performance. The story and the supporters revolve completely around her, and you don't learn anything about them beyond that, so ultimately, you don't care when bad things happen to them. Watch it so you can talk about it at school/work/sewing circle when it comes up.

Pat C. gave it a 6:
An unpleasant but powerful little movie where the characters are subtly saturated with the melancholy insanity of the northern prairie. The sad thing is that if Teena had actually been a guy he could have ended up with the same problems. Bigotry is wrong even when it happens to those not currently politically authorized to be victims. Such as if you're a closet masochist conflicted into thinking you are merely improperly equipped sexually, as Teena appears to be. Great performance by Swank, in spite of an incomplete examination of the issues raised that in the end forced her to come across simply as another stupid lonely kid. That's right, because we are told this is a true story, and if she's not stupid, the antagonists are stereotypes.

David L. gave it a 10:
While this film is truly an ensemble film in that all of the performances are top-notch, the real juice that keeps this engine humming is a full-throttle performance by Hilary Swank. No performance was ever more deserving than this Oscar winning performance of all its individual accolades and critical hosannas.

Boys Don't Cry Fox Searchlight Pictures

Boys Don't Cry
Fox Searchlight Pictures