Stranger Than Paradise | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

96% Tomatometer 28 Reviews 88% Audience Score 10,000+ Ratings New York City layabout Willie (John Lurie) and his dopey sidekick, Eddie (Richard Edson), get by on TV dinners and beer financed by haphazard card-sharking. Willie gets an unwelcome visit from his Hungarian teen cousin, Eva (Eszter Balint), but, just as he warms to her, she ditches him for her aunt in Cleveland. Impulsively, Willie and Eddie take a road trip to pick up Eva, after which they head out to find fortune and paradise in Florida -- or at least alleviation from their constant boredom. Read More Read Less Now in Theaters Now Playing Buy Tickets

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Stranger Than Paradise

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Stranger Than Paradise

What to Know

Critics Consensus

A striking debut for director Jim Jarmusch, Stranger than Paradise is an effortlessly cool exploration of finding meaning in the mundane.

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Critics Reviews

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Stranger Than Paradise | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Jay Scott Globe and Mail This is a plaintive, intelligent, laconic New York comedy. Dec 7, 2022 Full Review Stranger Than Paradise | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Adam Kempenaar Filmspotting And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack / And you may find yourself in another part of the world / And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile / Same as it ever was, same as it ever was. Rated: 4/5 Dec 3, 2020 Full Review Stranger Than Paradise | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Richard Brody New Yorker A unified vision of populist American aesthetics. Feb 3, 2020 Full Review Stranger Than Paradise | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Keith Garlington Keith & the Movies Throughout “Stranger Than Paradise” I couldn’t help but feel a hip French New Wave vibe in the vein of early Godard, Truffaut, and Chabrol. Rated: 4.5/5 Aug 25, 2022 Full Review Stranger Than Paradise | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Matt Brunson Film Frenzy One of the most important indie achievements of '84. Rated: 3.5/4 Apr 24, 2019 Full Review Stranger Than Paradise | Rotten Tomatoes (6) A.S. Hamrah n+1 Stranger Than Paradise captures what in retrospect turned out to be a last moment of unbranded American reality. Nov 29, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (766) audience reviews

Aender S While I like Jarmusch mostly showing poor neighbourhoods in his films, this one here is rather boring. Not much is happening in it, Jarmusch has definitely shot more interesting films later on. Rated 2/5 Stars • Rated 2 out of 5 stars 05/01/24 Full Review Talon B One of the worst films I've ever seen. Nothing happens, the ending doesn't make any sense, the characters are disgusting bozos (except the girl). Just super slow and boring. The only reason I watched it is because I absolutely love the soundtrack and I just assumed the film would be just as good but surprisingly it's not. I would recommend just listening to the soundtrack. I'm not sure how much an incredible score ended up on such a garbage film. Rated 0.5/5 Stars • Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/24 Full Review sj w quite a good watch, but the story was a bit boring and mundane - but I guess thats the point! dont understand why he flies back at the end, why would he take the plane if he doesnt see his cousin on it? Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/02/23 Full Review Vito P Absorbing, dreamy, stylish, anarchic, how beautiful is this independent cinema. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/23/24 Full Review Joe T Shot in black and white, a very well made movie Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/23/23 Full Review Logan M One of my favorite movies and a hilarious but subtle comedy that makes everyday activities and possibly boring moments strangely entertaining. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Stranger Than Paradise

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Cast & Crew

Jim Jarmusch Director John Lurie Willie Eszter Balint Eva Richard Edson Eddie Cecillia Stark Aunt Lotte Danny Rosen Billy
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Stranger Than Paradise

Stranger Than Paradise (1984) Stranger Than Paradise (1984) Stranger Than Paradise (1984) Stranger Than Paradise (1984) Stranger Than Paradise (1984) Stranger Than Paradise (1984) Stranger Than Paradise (1984) Stranger Than Paradise (1984) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis New York City layabout Willie (John Lurie) and his dopey sidekick, Eddie (Richard Edson), get by on TV dinners and beer financed by haphazard card-sharking. Willie gets an unwelcome visit from his Hungarian teen cousin, Eva (Eszter Balint), but, just as he warms to her, she ditches him for her aunt in Cleveland. Impulsively, Willie and Eddie take a road trip to pick up Eva, after which they head out to find fortune and paradise in Florida -- or at least alleviation from their constant boredom.

Director
Jim Jarmusch

Producer
Sara Driver

Screenwriter
Jim Jarmusch

Distributor
Samuel Goldwyn Company, Criterion Collection

Production Co
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen

Rating
R

Genre
Comedy, Drama

Original Language
English

Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 25, 1984, Original

Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 8, 2017

Runtime
1h 30m

Sound Mix
Mono

Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
Most Popular at Home Now
Stranger Than Paradise | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

FAQs

What is the highest Rotten Tomato movie? ›

To date, Leave No Trace holds the site's record, with a rating of 100% and 252 positive reviews.

Why is Stranger Than Paradise black and white? ›

The black and white emphasizes character, while the observational camera captures the mannerisms and nuances of each performer. Stranger Than Paradise also presents us with the subtle evolution of Eva and Willie's relationship, and this evolution is complimented with the spaces that surround them.

What is the point of Stranger Than Paradise? ›

The STORY : STRANGER THAN PARADISE is a story about America, as seen through the eyes of 'strangers'. It's a story about exile (both from one's country and oneself), and about connections that are just barely missed.

How old is Eva in Stranger Than Paradise? ›

The first section is set in the bare Lower East Side apartment of Willie, who is forced to take in Eva, his 16-year-old cousin from Budapest, for ten days.

Do any movies have 100% on Rotten Tomatoes? ›

Leave No Trace (2018)

It's not easy for recent movies to get a perfect Rotten Tomatoes rating, given the sizeable amount of reviews that are taken into account. That makes Leave No Trace's feat even more impressive. It's the movie with the most reviews featured (a total of 252) to get a 100% score.

What movies have gotten a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes? ›

10 Nearly Perfect Movies With a 99% Score on Rotten Tomatoes
  • 3 'Paddington 2' (2017)
  • 4 'On the Waterfront' (1954) ...
  • 5 'All About Eve' (1950) ...
  • 6 'The Third Man' (1949) ...
  • 7 'How to Train Your Dragon' (2010) ...
  • 8 'Goldfinger' (1964) ...
  • 9 'Lady Bird' (2017) Directed by Greta Gerwig. ...
  • 10 'Finding Nemo' (2003) Directed by Andrew Stanton. ...
May 13, 2024

Is Stranger of Paradise a spin off? ›

As an alternate universe prequel of Square Enix's original Final Fantasy on the NES, the storyline follows a set of characters brought into a fantasy world to face the malevolent Chaos. The game was released in March 2022 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

What are the pros and cons of Stranger of Paradise? ›

Stranger of Paradise has satisfying, hard-hitting combat, and the story, as dumb as it may be, leads to hilarious interactions. However, that story also works to the game's detriment, and the repetition of Jack's 20-hour journey sets in fast.

Why is Stranger of Paradise Rated M? ›

Language. Contains explicit language along the lines of "damn," "hell," "s--t," and "f--k," which is uttered at a moderate pace throughout the game.

Is Stranger Than Paradise a good movie? ›

A striking debut for director Jim Jarmusch, Stranger than Paradise is an effortlessly cool exploration of finding meaning in the mundane.

How many shots are in Stranger Than Paradise? ›

For starters, there was its eccentric approach to narrative structure: the sixty-seven single-shot “scenes” separated by black film, and the explicit division of the story into three clear, ironically titled chapters.

Is Stranger of Paradise a comedy? ›

That same bizarre tone is in full effect, and Stranger of Paradise is shaping up to be the funniest Final Fantasy game I've ever played.

Is Jim Jarmusch Hungarian? ›

Jarmusch was born in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, the second of three children of middle-class suburbanites. His mother, of German and Irish descent, was a reviewer of film and theatre for the Akron Beacon Journal before marrying his father, a businessman of Czech and German descent who worked for the B.F. Goodrich Company.

Has a movie ever gotten 0 on Rotten Tomatoes? ›

On the film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, films that every surveyed critic considered bad have a 0% rating. As of 2023, only 40 films with 20 reviews have received this rating.

Is 90 percent Rotten Tomatoes good? ›

As the reviews of a given film accumulate, the Rotten Tomatoes score measures the percentage that are more positive than negative, and assigns an overall fresh or rotten rating to the movie. Scores of over 60 percent are considered fresh, and scores of 59 percent and under are rotten.

What is ranked the best movie of all time? ›

1. Citizen Kane (1941)

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