Overview
A professor's fall from grace leads to a harrowing confrontation with his past and the present.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Brutal
- disturbing
- austere
- melancholic
- serious film night
- literary adaptation viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly found the adaptation disturbing and powerful, praising its fidelity to difficult moral material and its leading performances.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
David Lurie confronts the consequences of his sexual misconduct, dismissal, and responses to violence against Lucy.
The farm’s racial and economic relationships force David and Lucy to confront modern South Africa’s unresolved past.
David’s affair with Melanie, enabled by his academic authority, precipitates his professional and personal downfall.
Lucy’s isolated farm becomes the setting for robbery, abuse, contested protection, and dependence on neighboring black locals.
Films like Disgrace, and why
The Power of One
shared post-apartheid setting, racial politics, moral reckoning, and disturbing dramatic intensity
Tsotsi
shared South African social realism, institutional injustice, and emotionally severe drama
The Piano
shared literary adaptation, colonial aftermath, sexual transgression, and morally compromised protagonist
A Dry White Season
shared themes of race, violence, historical guilt, and difficult ethical choices in a grounded drama
Movie Details
- Director
- Steve Jacobs
- Release Date
- 2008-09-06
- Runtime
- 120 min
- Rating
- 6.2 / 10 (90)
Cast
- John Malkovich
- Jessica Haines
- Ériq Ebouaney
- Fiona Press
- Antoinette Engel
- Natalie Becker
- Antonio Fisher
- Isabella De Villiers
- Cindy Mkaza
- Liezl de Kock
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Disgrace about?
- A disgraced Cape Town academic confronts personal culpability and the brutal moral ambiguities of post-apartheid South Africa on his daughter’s vulnerable farm.
- What is Disgrace like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Disgrace as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Disgrace violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Disgrace as brutal.
- What did critics think of Disgrace?
- Critics broadly found the adaptation disturbing and powerful, praising its fidelity to difficult moral material and its leading performances.
- Which films are like Disgrace?
- Films with a similar feel include The Power of One, Tsotsi, The Piano, and A Dry White Season.
- How long is Disgrace?
- Disgrace runs 120 minutes.
- Where can I watch Disgrace?
- In United States, Disgrace is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube.
