Cold Souls
An alienated Broadway actor rents another person's soul and journeys through a surreal identity crisis to recover his own.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- wry
- melancholic
- surreal
- thoughtful movie night
- arthouse film night
What critics said
Critics generally praised the film's inventive surreal premise, beautiful visuals, and balance of existential drama with wry comedy, while finding its observations and central performance less consistently effective.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Paul stores, rents, transports, and retrieves souls through an organized commercial system.
Paul's Broadway preparation, borrowed soul, and altered behavior make acting and identity the central conflict.
Soul storage and transportation are handled as mundane services against a deliberately everyday dramatic backdrop.
Paul's ennui and identity crisis are represented through the physical absence, rental, and pursuit of his soul.
Films like Cold Souls, and why
Being John Malkovich
surrealist comedy about identity, performance, and an actor's selfhood
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
absurdist existential comedy blending emotional alienation with speculative premises
The Science of Sleep
offbeat speculative drama using an unusual technology to explore marriage and identity
A Ghost Story
wry, melancholic fantasy about compromised identity and emotional disconnection
Movie Details
- Director
- Sophie Barthes
- Release Date
- 2009-08-07
- Runtime
- 101 min
- Rating
- 6.0 / 10 (188)
Cast
- Paul Giamatti
- Emily Watson
- Dina Korzun
- David Strathairn
- Katheryn Winnick
- Lauren Ambrose
- Michael Stuhlbarg
- Michael Tucker
- Armand Schultz
- Ted Koch
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Cold Souls about?
- An alienated Broadway actor rents another person's soul and journeys through a surreal identity crisis to recover his own.
- What is Cold Souls like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Cold Souls as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Cold Souls violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Cold Souls.
- What did critics think of Cold Souls?
- Critics generally praised the film's inventive surreal premise, beautiful visuals, and balance of existential drama with wry comedy, while finding its observations and central performance less consistently effective.
- Which films are like Cold Souls?
- Films with a similar feel include Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep, and A Ghost Story.
- How long is Cold Souls?
- Cold Souls runs 101 minutes.
- Where can I watch Cold Souls?
- In United States, Cold Souls streams on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads.
