Overview
A brilliant mind races against time to change the course of history during World War II.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- tense
- earnest
- melancholic
- historical film night
- serious movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the performances, production, and accessible wartime suspense, while noting substantial historical liberties and conventional storytelling.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Alan Turing's wartime achievements are juxtaposed with his later prosecution for homosexuality and the broader hostility of British institutions.
Turing's effort to build a codebreaking machine becomes the film's central engine of suspense and a symbol of his hoped-for vindication.
The Bletchley Park team must decipher Enigma quickly enough to influence the ongoing war while concealing their success.
Bletchley Park is presented as a guarded workplace of codebreakers, military secrecy, hidden communications, and internal suspicion.
Films like The Imitation Game, and why
A Beautiful Mind
shared biographical drama, wartime intelligence setting, moral secrecy, and a brilliant outsider protagonist
The Colossus of Rhodes
shared historical drama, wartime codebreaking, institutional pressure, and queer historical context
Enigma
shared british wartime espionage, cryptography, suspenseful investigation, and morally fraught secrecy
The Theory of Everything
shared biographical drama, persecution of a marginalized genius, and strong lead performance
Movie Details
- Director
- Morten Tyldum
- Release Date
- 2014-11-14
- Runtime
- 113 min
- Rating
- 8.0 / 10 (18460)
Cast
- Benedict Cumberbatch
- Keira Knightley
- Matthew Goode
- Rory Kinnear
- Allen Leech
- Matthew Beard
- Charles Dance
- Mark Strong
- James Northcote
- Tom Goodman-Hill
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Lionsgate+ Amazon Channel, Howdy Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Imitation Game about?
- A brilliant but isolated cryptanalyst leads a secret British team against the Nazi Enigma code while confronting the intolerance of the society he helps protect.
- What is The Imitation Game like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Imitation Game as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Imitation Game violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Imitation Game as mild.
- What did critics think of The Imitation Game?
- Critics broadly praised the performances, production, and accessible wartime suspense, while noting substantial historical liberties and conventional storytelling.
- Which films are like The Imitation Game?
- Films with a similar feel include A Beautiful Mind, The Colossus of Rhodes, Enigma, and The Theory of Everything.
- How long is The Imitation Game?
- The Imitation Game runs 113 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Imitation Game?
- In United States, The Imitation Game streams on Lionsgate+ Amazon Channel, Howdy Amazon Channel.
