The City of Lost Children
A fairground strongman crosses a grotesque steampunk island to rescue his kidnapped brother from a dream-harvesting scientist.
Overview
In a world where dreams are harvested, a strongman embarks on a perilous quest to rescue his brother.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- eerie
- surreal
- melancholic
- late night cinephile viewing
- surreal fantasy marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as an engrossing and profoundly memorable visual spectacle, while finding its densely layered story occasionally confusing and underdeveloped.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film presents oil rigs, mechanical contraptions, clones, and fantastical industrial architecture in a past that never historically existed.
Krank kidnaps children and uses their dreams because he cannot dream himself, making dream extraction the central threat.
Krank’s clones and Irvin form a technologically produced family opposed to One, Miette, and the abducted children’s more authentic family bond.
Children are systematically abducted for their dreams, while Miette helps One locate and rescue Denree.
Films like The City of Lost Children, and why
Delicatessen
shares baroque steampunk production design, dark whimsy, dystopian fantasy, and eccentric invented worlds
Amélie
shares surreal visual invention, melancholic whimsy, childlike wonder, and grotesque fantasy atmosphere
Brazil
shares dystopian science fiction, bioengineering themes, nightmarish production design, and philosophical questions about humanity
Pan's Labyrinth
shares dark fairy-tale imagery, endangered children, elaborate fantasy worlds, and unsettling emotional intensity
Movie Details
- Directors
- Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- Release Date
- 1995-05-17
- Runtime
- 112 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (1270)
Cast
- Ron Perlman
- Dominique Pinon
- Judith Vittet
- Daniel Emilfork
- Jean-Claude Dreyfus
- Geneviève Brunet
- Odile Mallet
- Mireille Mossé
- Serge Merlin
- Rufus
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Howdy Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, 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 The City of Lost Children about?
- A fairground strongman crosses a grotesque steampunk island to rescue his kidnapped brother from a dream-harvesting scientist.
- What is The City of Lost Children like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The City of Lost Children as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The City of Lost Children violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The City of Lost Children as mild.
- What did critics think of The City of Lost Children?
- Critics broadly praised the film as an engrossing and profoundly memorable visual spectacle, while finding its densely layered story occasionally confusing and underdeveloped.
- Which films are like The City of Lost Children?
- Films with a similar feel include Delicatessen, Amélie, Brazil, and Pan's Labyrinth.
- How long is The City of Lost Children?
- The City of Lost Children runs 112 minutes.
- Where can I watch The City of Lost Children?
- In United States, The City of Lost Children streams on Howdy Amazon Channel.
