Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- angry
- melancholic
- intimate
- serious movie night
- indie drama evening
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film finely acted and emotionally serious, but judged its ambitious interconnected screenplay to be uneven and sloppily assembled.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Zarrow's mugging connects Sam, Joe, the assailant, and a wider circle of people facing private crises across New York.
The film moves among strangers, families, addicts, and professionals whose lives reveal a city marked by loneliness and social decay.
Professor Walter Zarrow's intellectual perspective and the film's discussions of society's decay give the ensemble drama an explicitly philosophical register.
The reported style is remarkably natural, while the story relies on intimate performances and everyday urban spaces rather than visual spectacle.
Films like Anesthesia, and why
Crash
interconnected urban lives, moral unease, and a serious ensemble drama structure
Babel
multi-strand city drama examining social disconnection, private crises, and unexpected connections
Magnolia
interlocking character studies, addiction, despair, and a bleakly compassionate portrait of urban life
The Sunset Limited
philosophical dialogue, social alienation, and an ensemble structure focused on troubled contemporary lives
Movie Details
- Director
- Tim Blake Nelson
- Release Date
- 2016-01-08
- Runtime
- 90 min
- Rating
- 5.7 / 10 (130)
Cast
- Glenn Close
- K. Todd Freeman
- Jessica Hecht
- Gretchen Mol
- Tim Blake Nelson
- Gloria Reuben
- Kristen Stewart
- Corey Stoll
- Mickey Sumner
- Sam Waterston
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+, Sundance Now
- Rent
- Apple TV Store
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Anesthesia about?
- A wounded philosophy professor's nighttime mugging exposes a web of addiction, secrecy, loneliness, and fragile human connection across New York City.
- What is Anesthesia like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Anesthesia as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Anesthesia violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Anesthesia as moderate.
- What did critics think of Anesthesia?
- Critics broadly found the film finely acted and emotionally serious, but judged its ambitious interconnected screenplay to be uneven and sloppily assembled.
- Which films are like Anesthesia?
- Films with a similar feel include Crash, Babel, Magnolia, and The Sunset Limited.
- How long is Anesthesia?
- Anesthesia runs 90 minutes.
- Where can I watch Anesthesia?
- In United States, Anesthesia streams on Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+, Sundance Now.
