Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- melancholic
- sober
- intimate
- quiet evening
- literary film night
What critics said
Critics generally found the performances and thematic ambition respectable but judged the leads miscast and the adaptation less powerful and dramatically cohesive than Philip Roth’s novel.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Coleman Silk has hidden his African-American identity while being accepted as white for most of his adult life.
Silk's professional reputation, marriage, family relationships, and social standing depend on an ingeniously maintained biography.
Writer Nathan Zuckerman investigates Silk's secret and pieces together the history behind his public persona.
Critics repeatedly describe the film as an intelligent but limited adaptation of Philip Roth's highly literary novel.
Films like The Human Stain, and why
The Talented Mr. Ripley
literary drama examining concealed identity, social passing, and the destructive consequences of repression
The End of the Affair
adult romantic drama centered on secrecy, shame, class tension, and morally compromised characters
Far from Heaven
period-spanning identity drama exploring racial secrecy, memory, and the cost of reinvention
The Reader
serious adaptation of literary material focused on identity, sexuality, and belated emotional risk
Movie Details
- Director
- Robert Benton
- Release Date
- 2003-10-29
- Runtime
- 106 min
- Rating
- 6.0 / 10 (520)
Cast
- Anthony Hopkins
- Nicole Kidman
- Ed Harris
- Gary Sinise
- Wentworth Miller
- Jacinda Barrett
- Harry Lennix
- Clark Gregg
- Anna Deavere Smith
- Lizan Mitchell
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- 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 The Human Stain about?
- A revered classics professor’s carefully fabricated identity collapses when forbidden intimacy exposes the racial secret shaping his entire life.
- What is The Human Stain like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Human Stain as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Human Stain violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Human Stain as moderate.
- What did critics think of The Human Stain?
- Critics generally found the performances and thematic ambition respectable but judged the leads miscast and the adaptation less powerful and dramatically cohesive than Philip Roth’s novel.
- Which films are like The Human Stain?
- Films with a similar feel include The Talented Mr. Ripley, The End of the Affair, Far from Heaven, and The Reader.
- How long is The Human Stain?
- The Human Stain runs 106 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Human Stain?
- In United States, The Human Stain is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand.
