Overview
A couple's dream of escape leads to a confrontation with their own discontent.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- melancholic
- brooding
- intimate
- serious movie night
- literary adaptation night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the emotionally powerful Richard Yates adaptation for its exceptional lead performances, screenplay, and incisive portrait of a marriage and american dream in crisis.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Frank and April experience their Connecticut suburban success as a suffocating compromise rather than a fulfilling life.
The film closely dissects the Wheelers' resentment, infidelity, arguments, and competing accounts of their shared unhappiness.
The attractive 1950s Connecticut home and neighborhood repeatedly frame the Wheelers' escalating sense of entrapment.
April's proposed move to Paris becomes the concrete test of whether the couple can reject their established careers and domestic roles.
Films like Revolutionary Road, and why
The Ice Storm
shared marital crisis, suburban conformity, and emotionally devastating examination of the american dream
Far from Heaven
shared 1950s domestic repression, gender expectations, and corrosive dissatisfaction beneath polished suburban life
Blue Valentine
shared intimate relationship drama, infidelity, and psychologically raw performances centered on romantic disintegration
The Hours
shared literary domestic tragedy, marital conflict, and disillusionment with socially prescribed happiness
Movie Details
- Director
- Sam Mendes
- Release Date
- 2008-12-19
- Runtime
- 119 min
- Rating
- 7.0 / 10 (4211)
Cast
- Leonardo DiCaprio
- Kate Winslet
- Kathy Bates
- Michael Shannon
- Kathryn Hahn
- David Harbour
- Dylan Baker
- Richard Easton
- Zoe Kazan
- Jay O. Sanders
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- fuboTV
- Rent
- JustWatch TV, Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand
- 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 Revolutionary Road about?
- A fiercely acted 1950s marriage drama follows two suburban idealists as their dream of escape collides with infidelity, conformity, and buried resentment.
- What is Revolutionary Road like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Revolutionary Road as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Revolutionary Road violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Revolutionary Road.
- What did critics think of Revolutionary Road?
- Critics broadly praised the emotionally powerful Richard Yates adaptation for its exceptional lead performances, screenplay, and incisive portrait of a marriage and american dream in crisis.
- Which films are like Revolutionary Road?
- Films with a similar feel include The Ice Storm, Far from Heaven, Blue Valentine, and The Hours.
- How long is Revolutionary Road?
- Revolutionary Road runs 119 minutes.
- Where can I watch Revolutionary Road?
- In United States, Revolutionary Road streams on fuboTV.
