Overview
A poignant journey through memory and heritage unfolds in the heart of Ukraine.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- witty
- absurd
- wistful
- reflective weekend
- literary film night
What critics said
Critics generally found the debut assured and emotionally distinctive, valuing its unusual fusion of discovery, humor, and historical drama.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Jonathan follows a photograph, pendant, necklace, and map to recover his grandfather's wartime history.
Alex's fractured English and pop-cultural enthusiasm coexist with the destruction of Trachimbrod and Holocaust memory.
Jonathan organizes family objects in bags and displays them as a system for remembering the dead.
An American Jewish descendant and a Ukrainian family confront one another through a search for a vanished Jewish town.
Films like Everything Is Illuminated, and why
The Darjeeling Limited
shares a bittersweet road movie structure, cultural displacement, family memory, and comic encounters with historical trauma
A Serious Man
shares Jewish identity, intergenerational memory, dry humor, and a journey into the aftermath of wartime persecution
The Last Picture Show
shares a reflective quest through Eastern Europe, fragmented family history, and a balance of absurd comedy with Holocaust remembrance
Movie Details
- Director
- Liev Schreiber
- Release Date
- 2005-09-05
- Runtime
- 105 min
- Rating
- 7.3 / 10 (843)
Cast
- Elijah Wood
- Eugene Hutz
- Boris Lyoskin
- Jana Hrabětova
- Jonathan Safran Foer
- Stephen Samudovsky
- Oleksandr Choroshko
- Gil Kazimirov
- Zuzana Hodková
- Ljubomir Dezera
Where to watch in United States
- 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 Everything Is Illuminated about?
- A meticulous young collector travels through Ukraine with an eccentric local guide to recover the buried story behind his family's wartime survival.
- What is Everything Is Illuminated like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Everything Is Illuminated as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Everything Is Illuminated violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Everything Is Illuminated as mild.
- What did critics think of Everything Is Illuminated?
- Critics generally found the debut assured and emotionally distinctive, valuing its unusual fusion of discovery, humor, and historical drama.
- Which films are like Everything Is Illuminated?
- Films with a similar feel include The Darjeeling Limited, A Serious Man, and The Last Picture Show.
- How long is Everything Is Illuminated?
- Everything Is Illuminated runs 105 minutes.
- Where can I watch Everything Is Illuminated?
- In United States, Everything Is Illuminated is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
