Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Labyrinthine
- Violence
- Brutal
- surreal
- provocative
- erotic
- cult film night
- late night viewing
What critics said
Critics remain divided between admiration for the film's visual daring, wit, performances, and cultural significance and objections to its sadism, opacity, uneven pacing, and pretension.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Chas's East End criminal world is placed in direct contact with Turner's bohemian rock-star household.
The relationship between Chas and Turner increasingly blurs the boundaries between gangster persona, rock-star persona, and adopted self.
Surreal imagery, fractured editing, unusual sound design, and drug-influenced perception repeatedly disrupt straightforward narrative comprehension.
Chas's violent gangster identity is challenged by Turner's household, where sexuality, performance, and power operate outside conventional gangland norms.
Films like Performance, and why
The Long Good Friday
british gangster crime, counterculture, sexual ambiguity, and deliberately destabilizing style
Blow-Up
1960s london bohemia, pop celebrity, erotic transgression, and surreal visual experimentation
The Servant
crime-world alienation, identity instability, and psychologically disorienting urban atmosphere
Get Carter
cult british crime cinema combining criminal violence with psychedelic counterculture and formal audacity
Movie Details
- Directors
- Nicolas Roeg, Donald Cammell
- Release Date
- 1970-08-03
- Runtime
- 106 min
- Rating
- 6.8 / 10 (208)
Cast
- James Fox
- Mick Jagger
- Anita Pallenberg
- Michèle Breton
- Ann Sidney
- John Bindon
- Stanley Meadows
- Allan Cuthbertson
- Anthony Morton
- Johnny Shannon
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- 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 Performance about?
- A fugitive East London gangster enters a decadent rock star’s household, where violence, celebrity, sexuality, and identity begin to mutate into one another.
- What is Performance like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Performance as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as labyrinthine.
- Is Performance violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Performance as brutal.
- What did critics think of Performance?
- Critics remain divided between admiration for the film's visual daring, wit, performances, and cultural significance and objections to its sadism, opacity, uneven pacing, and pretension.
- Which films are like Performance?
- Films with a similar feel include The Long Good Friday, Blow-Up, The Servant, and Get Carter.
- How long is Performance?
- Performance runs 106 minutes.
- Where can I watch Performance?
- In United States, Performance is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
