Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Brutal
- bleak
- brooding
- harrowing
- serious movie night
- crime thriller marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film gripping and well acted, though its predictable story and underused ensemble kept it from fully realizing its dramatic potential.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Russell and Rodney pursue escape from an economically depressed Rust Belt community, while poverty and dead-end prospects help drive Rodney toward criminal violence.
After prison and devastating losses, Russell risks his freedom to seek justice for his younger brother Rodney.
The film’s Rust Belt setting and working-class communities provide a grim atmosphere of economic deterioration and social entrapment.
Russell, Rodney, and other male characters express loyalty, trauma, and power through prison, bare-knuckle fighting, and retaliatory violence.
Films like Out of the Furnace, and why
The Place Beyond the Pines
shared bleak crime drama, sibling loyalty, working-class hardship, and revenge-driven moral conflict
Winter's Bone
shared austere rural crime storytelling, damaged men, escalating violence, and grim moral consequences
Blue Ruin
shared brooding revenge thriller atmosphere, brutal criminal networks, and protagonists constrained by socioeconomic despair
The Drop
shared working-class tragedy, prison experience, family bonds, and violent cycles of retribution
Movie Details
- Director
- Scott Cooper
- Release Date
- 2013-11-12
- Runtime
- 116 min
- Rating
- 6.6 / 10 (2187)
Cast
- Christian Bale
- Zoe Saldaña
- Woody Harrelson
- Sam Shepard
- Willem Dafoe
- Forest Whitaker
- Casey Affleck
- Boyd Holbrook
- Tom Bower
- Gordon Michaels
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
- Rent
- JustWatch TV, 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 Out of the Furnace about?
- A grieving Rust Belt steelworker emerges from prison and enters a brutal moral reckoning to avenge his brother’s destruction.
- What is Out of the Furnace like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Out of the Furnace as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Out of the Furnace violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Out of the Furnace as brutal.
- What did critics think of Out of the Furnace?
- Critics broadly found the film gripping and well acted, though its predictable story and underused ensemble kept it from fully realizing its dramatic potential.
- Which films are like Out of the Furnace?
- Films with a similar feel include The Place Beyond the Pines, Winter's Bone, Blue Ruin, and The Drop.
- How long is Out of the Furnace?
- Out of the Furnace runs 116 minutes.
- Where can I watch Out of the Furnace?
- In United States, Out of the Furnace streams on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads.
