Reality
A struggling filmmaker’s absurd hunt for the perfect scream spirals into a mischievous labyrinth where cinema and reality keep rewriting each other.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Labyrinthine
- Violence
- Mild
- absurdist
- surreal
- deadpan
- late night cinephile viewing
- surreal movie marathon
What critics said
Critics generally recognized Dupieux's distinctive surreal and oddball sensibility, though many found the film repetitive, deliberately unfunny, or difficult to follow.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Jason's attempt to satisfy a producer's demand for an Oscar-worthy groan makes film production the plot's central engine.
The plot interweaves Jason, Reality, Alice, Bob, Henri, and Zog in overlapping situations that repeatedly unsettle what is real.
The producer's grotesque creative assignment and the film's repetitive surreal beats create a deliberately nonsensical comic structure.
Jason's financing hunt and the producer's arbitrary Oscar-oriented condition parody professional filmmaking culture.
Films like Reality, and why
Inception
surreal comedy, recursive realities, and playful disruption of narrative logic
Holy Motors
absurdist humor, self-conscious filmmaking, and destabilized reality
The Science of Sleep
French surrealism, dreamlike causality, and eccentric comic performances
Synecdoche, New York
metafictional filmmaking, nonlinear absurdity, and darkly comic tone
Movie Details
- Director
- Quentin Dupieux
- Release Date
- 2015-02-18
- Runtime
- 87 min
- Rating
- 7.1 / 10 (561)
Cast
- Alain Chabat
- Jonathan Lambert
- Élodie Bouchez
- Kyla Kenedy
- Eric Wareheim
- John Glover
- Lola Delon
- Matt Battaglia
- Susan Diol
- Erik Passoja
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Philo, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, Sundance Now
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Reality about?
- A struggling filmmaker’s absurd hunt for the perfect scream spirals into a mischievous labyrinth where cinema and reality keep rewriting each other.
- What is Reality like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Reality as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as labyrinthine.
- Is Reality violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Reality as mild.
- What did critics think of Reality?
- Critics generally recognized Dupieux's distinctive surreal and oddball sensibility, though many found the film repetitive, deliberately unfunny, or difficult to follow.
- Which films are like Reality?
- Films with a similar feel include Inception, Holy Motors, The Science of Sleep, and Synecdoche, New York.
- How long is Reality?
- Reality runs 87 minutes.
- Where can I watch Reality?
- In United States, Reality streams on Philo, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, Sundance Now.
