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Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Yusuke Iseya, Yoshino Kimura ... see more see more... , Don McKellar , Maury Chaykin , Mitchell Nye , Danny Glover , Gael García Bernal , Sandra Oh , Jason Bermingham , Fabiana Gugli

Fernando Meirelles' adaptation of Nobel Prize-winning author José Saramago's novel Blindness begins when an epidemic of blindness strikes the world. Mark Ruffalo stars as an eye doctor who awakens one... read more read more... morning to find that he suffers from the unexplained disorder. He, along with other victims, is sent to a government detention center so that they can be quarantined. His wife (Julianne Moore) pretends to be blind so that she can be with him inside the institution. Their time in the center grows more and more desperate as food and supplies dwindle, and one of the other citizens (Gael García Bernal) exercises dictatorial control over the others after he acquires a weapon. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

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48% liked it

59,816 ratings

Critics

42% liked it

153 critics

R, 2 hr.

Directed by: Fernando Meirelles

Release Date: May 14, 2008

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DVD Release Date: February 10, 2009

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Stats: 4,287 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (4,287)

  • ironclad1609
    October 4, 2011
    ironclad1609
    What would happen if everyone turned blind with no explanation or cure? Well, everyone but one person. This film is drawing a pessimistic picture of such a situation. The basic premise is very interesting, the following premise of the infected being held in camps entirely left to... read more their own devices is already a bit over the top and more inhuman than reality, even if you are misanthrope. What follows is sometimes hard to stomach, a bleak, hopeless outlook on the loss of basic human values. It sometimes feels like the film is even going too far here. Once the one person who still can see finally makes use of that advantage, things turn around and the film gets a lot more exciting and makes for a much more convincing finale, that almost feels like a zombie film but at least keeps a ray of hope. The acting and camera work is outstanding either way. A disturbing film, but at least a memorable one.
  • cosmo313
    March 30, 2011
    cosmo313
    This movie is part of a long line of dystopic/social breakdown picutres, and it doesn't really bring anything new to the proceedings, but the specific concept at hand is actually kind of interesting.

    While this movie isn't as terrible as some have made it out to be, it's no ma... read moresterpiece, and it could have been a whole lot better. It's a mess, but I give it some extra credit with the rating because of it's ambition, some really good individual sequences, and because the acting is really pretty good, even if the material is lacking. Julianne Morre's character is also quite intriguing and interesting, so that's also a plus.

    The way the the filmmakers choose to tell the story is interesting, but it's kind of annoying. Instead of trying to produce the expereince of going sightless, they should have just done it conventionally, instead of toying with sight and sound. I know they have good intentions, but a little goes a long way, and it gets tiring after the first 1/3 or so. I've never read the book this is based on, but maybe this should have just not been adapted.

    A few more issues I need to address are the length, pacing, and material itself. The film feels way too long, it drags, it could have been a little tighter, and this is just, in general, a really depressing and disturbing affair. It's also probably offensive to the blind community, even if it is just a "what if?" scenario. This is some hard stuff to sit through. It's bleak, unrelenting, and full of too much hopelessness. It seems like they were aiming for an artsy and thought provoking film, but end up with a tedious exploitation film with high production values and good intentions gone sour.

    Like I said earlier though, the specific variation to this unoriginal theme is interesting, and the characters (mainly Moore's) and performances are terrific. I'm undecided though as to whether or not it's a good thing that the epidemic and its conclusion are unexplained.
  • wildaly14
    February 4, 2011
    wildaly14
    The premise is absolutely intriguing. I think it is an interesting character study.
  • dreamfaeries
    August 29, 2010
    dreamfaeries
    A bit off the beaten path. Interesting story, but it couldn't hold my interest the entire length of the film. It was... okay.
  • imrealgod
    July 12, 2010
    imrealgod
    Some people have mentioned that generally those who don't like it don't get it. Sorry to disappoint, but I quite got it & yet didn't like it. While the movie starts off interestingly, it loses its grip as it progresses & eventually gets on the nerves.
  • MrMarakai
    June 27, 2010
    MrMarakai
    After "City of God" Fernando Meirelles has been a director that has excited me but his follow up "The Constant Gardener" was somewhat disappointing and lethargic and this film suffers from similiar problems.
    A wife (Julianne Moore) and a doctor (Mark Ruffalo) inhabit an unknown,... read more modern American city that finds itself in an outbreak of sudden blindness and as panic soon strikes, the casualties are quarantined in an old hospital where after mistreatment and neglect, they start to form their own internal society with a reversion to barbarism.
    An apocalyptic film from Meirelles which after his previous films is not surprising. He seems to focus on the sheer animal instinct in mankind and has no problem painting the picture of how easily we can be so brutal to one another when our societal structure breaks down and disharmony takes over. Each character is deliberately non-descript and unknown here and yet again Meirelles crafts a visually appropriate style to the story. Julianne Moore is absolutely brilliant (as usual) as the loyal and compassionate wife who has inexplicably retained her vision and the rest of the cast are entirely convincing with their 'ghost' like movements of blind people, maintaining very little eye-contact and enforced clumsiness. Everything about the look and feel of this society is bleak and uneasy but that's also the problem with the pacing of the film. It starts off brilliantly, grabs you by the hand and guides you on, but unreliably leaves you stumbling and bumping into a few things now and again along the way.
  • bbcfloridabound
    June 3, 2010
    bbcfloridabound
    Excellent movie, about a virus un like 28 Days or 28 weeks instead of turning into a Zombie, you become blind. The government puts people in camps to quarantine them from the general population. One person an eye doctors wife can see and she becomes a caretaker for those that are... read more blind. Its a great movie, have to give it 5 stars. I'm on a roll
  • ythelastman89
    April 11, 2010
    ythelastman89
    This really had the potential to be a great and ambitious film, but it just about fell under every overused plot point in a disaster story. The overuse of showing the horror of mankind was just pathetic on so many ways, unbelievable on many accounts. What took me out of the film ... read morethe most was the focus on rape and how it was the ultimate defilement of the whole situation. Not to mention the happy ending which in no way fit. The performances were pretty much lacking any sort of empathy, they were either too buffoonery or emotional in the case of Julianne Moore. About the only person I enjoyed watching was Gael Garcia Bernal, due to the fact that he was just so diabolically evil. It's really just a bundle of flaws thrown together with a semi-interesting plot.
  • yona71
    March 5, 2010
    yona71
    A chaotic, dark film(no pun intended) about a town that is struck with a case of sudden blindness. There is no scientific reasoning for the illness, so the people are quarantined due to fear, and mistreated by those responsible for their unjust imprisonment. Things go awry betwee... read moren the afflicted as well due to their utter mistreatment, and the desperation which arises amongst them.
    Julianne Moore stars as the only person who hasn't lost their sight which makes her the eyes for those unable to see. She feigns the illness in order to be with her afflicted husband portrayed by Mark Ruffalo, but becomes somewhat of a hero for the sightless victims.
  • ScoopOnline
    December 12, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    The only thing more terrifying than blindness is being the only one who can see.''

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Critic Reviews

J. R. Jones
December 17, 2008
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

I have to admire a mainstream movie that's so overwhelmingly bleak, but that's the only real distinction of this dystopian sci-fi drama. Full Review

Carina Chocano
October 18, 2008
Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times

Stilted, claustrophobic and more stylish than substantial. Full Review

Peter Rainer
October 6, 2008
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

Set in a nameless English-speaking city where people are suddenly stricken with sightlessness, it's an allegory that never rises to the level of believability. Full Review

Christopher Orr
October 3, 2008
Christopher Orr, New Republic

Blindness is a glum, ugly film, and pretentious in the bargain. But, perhaps least excusable, it is a fundamentally ill-conceived film, the visual depiction of a world without sight. Full Review

Neely Tucker
October 3, 2008
Neely Tucker, Washington Post

It's a beautiful car that never quite cranks up. The book is deep allegory, lost in time and place, describing a suffocating little world. It's hard to get at that in cinematic form. Full Review

Claudia Puig
October 3, 2008
Claudia Puig, USA Today

The film is an often thought-provoking metaphor. But as a thriller, it becomes dreary. Full Review

Susan Walker
October 3, 2008
Susan Walker, Toronto Star

This film rests uneasily between art and thriller, putting a huge burden on the actors, especially Julianne Moore, to convey the larger meaning of the story. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
October 3, 2008
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Too many scenes strike the same note, and, at times, Blindness seems like a premise in search of a story, and an allegory in search of a meaning. But in its methodical and uncompromising way, it gets ... Full Review

Stephen Whitty
October 3, 2008
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

Dully written, ponderously paced and full of one-note characters acting exactly as we'd expect. Full Review

Kyle Smith
October 3, 2008
Kyle Smith, New York Post

I kept hoping the meaning would click into place, but it never quite did. The story seems designed to apply to whatever fear is nibbling around your subconscious. Full Review

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Blindness Trivia

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