Overview
A haunting exploration of isolation and madness unfolds in a woman's mind as she grapples with her fears.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- claustrophobic
- disturbing
- paranoid
- late night horror viewing
- arthouse film night
What critics said
Critics broadly praise Roman Polanski’s technically assured psychological horror for making a schizophrenic breakdown viscerally claustrophobic through expressionist imagery and meticulous sound design.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Carol’s enclosed London apartment develops impossible cracks, reaching hands, and other expressionistic distortions as her mental state deteriorates.
Carol barricades herself inside the apartment, where shared living tensions and imagined violations turn home into a site of dread.
Carol’s discomfort with male sexuality, inability to assert boundaries, and withdrawal from ordinary life shape the film’s descent into madness.
Clocks, bells, footsteps, and heart-like thumping recur as distracting sensory motifs during Carol’s isolation.
Films like Repulsion, and why
The Tenant
shared psychological horror, claustrophobic isolation, unreliable perception, and a protagonist’s destabilizing mental state
The Shining
shared expressionist visual design, domestic confinement, sexual anxiety, and escalating psychological dread
Repulsion
shared black comedy undertones, alienation, paranoia, and unsettling descent into subjective madness
Black Swan
shared psychological horror, social isolation, disturbing hallucinations, and a woman confronting an oppressive environment
Movie Details
- Director
- Roman Polanski
- Release Date
- 1965-06-01
- Runtime
- 105 min
- Rating
- 7.4 / 10 (1140)
Cast
- Catherine Deneuve
- Ian Hendry
- John Fraser
- Yvonne Furneaux
- Patrick Wymark
- Renée Houston
- Valerie Taylor
- James Villiers
- Helen Fraser
- Monica Merlin
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- fuboTV, Brew, Midnight Pulp, Sony Pictures Core Amazon Channel
- 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 Repulsion about?
- A withdrawn Belgian manicurist’s isolation turns a London apartment into an expressionist labyrinth of sexual anxiety, hallucination, and psychological terror.
- What is Repulsion like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Repulsion as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Repulsion violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Repulsion as moderate.
- What did critics think of Repulsion?
- Critics broadly praise Roman Polanski’s technically assured psychological horror for making a schizophrenic breakdown viscerally claustrophobic through expressionist imagery and meticulous sound design.
- Which films are like Repulsion?
- Films with a similar feel include The Tenant, The Shining, Repulsion, and Black Swan.
- How long is Repulsion?
- Repulsion runs 105 minutes.
- Where can I watch Repulsion?
- In United States, Repulsion streams on fuboTV, Brew, Midnight Pulp, Sony Pictures Core Amazon Channel.
