Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Moderate
- witty
- deadpan
- lurid
- cult movie night
- dark comedy marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly praise the film's pitch-black humor, anarchic energy, and deliberately flat pop-art comic style, while finding it more clever than fully transcendent.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The Blands calmly turn repeated killings of swingers into an entrepreneurial scheme, while the film treats lurid violence with deadpan wit.
Paul and Mary pursue a respectable restaurant dream by converting their apartment and sexual-ad marketplace into a killing operation.
The critical reception specifically identifies the film's plain, ordinary comic style, while its lurid plot is staged with restrained presentation.
Swingers, dominatrix imagery, murder, robbery, and cannibalistic implications are organized into an anarchic independent comedy rather than conventional suspense.
Films like Eating Raoul, and why
Serial Mom
shares pitch-black humor, eccentric social satire, and grotesque crime-comedy premises
The Addams Family
shares anarchic dark comedy, taboo transgression, and stylized criminal absurdity
Fargo
shares deadpan delivery, underground-cult sensibility, and comic treatment of murder
Polyester
shares lurid exploitation elements, sexual subculture, and deliberately provocative humor
Movie Details
- Director
- Paul Bartel
- Release Date
- 1982-03-24
- Runtime
- 87 min
- Rating
- 6.5 / 10 (155)
Cast
- Paul Bartel
- Mary Woronov
- Robert Beltran
- Susan Saiger
- Richard Paul
- John Shearin
- Darcy Pulliam
- Garry Goodrow
- Richard Blackburn
- Hamilton Camp
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- HBO Max Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel, HBO Max
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Eating Raoul about?
- A buttoned-up couple bankrolls a restaurant dream by turning swinger bait, blunt-force murder, and body disposal into a deadpan criminal enterprise.
- What is Eating Raoul like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Eating Raoul as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Eating Raoul violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Eating Raoul as moderate.
- What did critics think of Eating Raoul?
- Critics broadly praise the film's pitch-black humor, anarchic energy, and deliberately flat pop-art comic style, while finding it more clever than fully transcendent.
- Which films are like Eating Raoul?
- Films with a similar feel include Serial Mom, The Addams Family, Fargo, and Polyester.
- How long is Eating Raoul?
- Eating Raoul runs 87 minutes.
- Where can I watch Eating Raoul?
- In United States, Eating Raoul streams on HBO Max Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel, HBO Max.
