Fox and His Friends
A working-class lottery winner enters a glamorous queer bourgeois circle only to discover that money cannot purchase trust, love, or social belonging.
Overview
A poignant exploration of class and identity unfolds as one man's fortune changes everything.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- bleak
- melancholic
- unsentimental
- arthouse film night
- lgbtq+ cinema showcase
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Fassbinder's bleak, visually striking queer class drama as unsensational and incisive, though some find its stylized pacing overly long and its situations uneven.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Fox's lottery win enables entry into Eugen's middle-class world, but the new status intensifies exploitation and alienation.
The film depicts male homosexuality without sensationalist moralizing while focusing on class power and everyday betrayal.
Eugen's relationship with Fox is inseparable from financial dependence, consumption, and the extraction of Fox's winnings.
Critics specifically praise the film's stunning imagery and succinct performances within Fassbinder's deliberately constructed world.
Films like Fox and His Friends, and why
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
shared queer social milieu, class conflict, emotional bleakness, and unsentimental critique of bourgeois relationships
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
shared Fassbinder authorship, melodramatic social observation, exploitative intimacy, and corrosive class dynamics
My Own Private Idaho
shared lgbtq+ themes, sexual politics, alienation, and unsparing social realism
Querelle
shared tragic queer romance, social marginalization, and critique of commodified intimacy
Movie Details
- Director
- Rainer Werner Fassbinder
- Release Date
- 1975-06-06
- Runtime
- 125 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (153)
Cast
- Rainer Werner Fassbinder
- Peter Chatel
- Karlheinz Böhm
- Adrian Hoven
- Christiane Maybach
- Harry Baer
- Hans Zander
- Kurt Raab
- Rudolf Lenz
- Karl Scheydt
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max
- 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 Fox and His Friends about?
- A working-class lottery winner enters a glamorous queer bourgeois circle only to discover that money cannot purchase trust, love, or social belonging.
- What is Fox and His Friends like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Fox and His Friends as slow, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Fox and His Friends violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Fox and His Friends.
- What did critics think of Fox and His Friends?
- Critics broadly regard Fassbinder's bleak, visually striking queer class drama as unsensational and incisive, though some find its stylized pacing overly long and its situations uneven.
- Which films are like Fox and His Friends?
- Films with a similar feel include The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, My Own Private Idaho, and Querelle.
- How long is Fox and His Friends?
- Fox and His Friends runs 125 minutes.
- Where can I watch Fox and His Friends?
- In United States, Fox and His Friends streams on HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max.
