Blood Simple

R16

1984

97 mins

Directed by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
94%
88%
Drama
Thriller
Award Winner

Joel and Ethan Coen's acclaimed debut feature is a crime noir thriller starring John Getz and Frances McDormand that took... More

Joel and Ethan Coen's acclaimed debut feature is a crime noir thriller starring John Getz and Frances McDormand that took top prize at Sundance.

When the owner of a small-town Texas dive bar (Emmy-winner Dan Hedaya) learns that his wife (McDormand) is having affair with one of his employees (Getz), he hires a private investigator (M. Emmet Walsh) and devises a plot to have the couple murdered.

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Where to watch Blood Simple

Blood Simple is available to stream in New Zealand now... More on Academy On Demand and AroVision.

Blood Simple | Ratings & Reviews

94_%111 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes® rating
88_%39,345 reviews
Audience score rating

"An inordinately good low-budget film noir thriller."

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Variety

"With their 1984 directorial debut, the Coen brothers showed the surefootedness with which they would ease themselves into one genre after another, reworking each to fit their deadpan vision."

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Total Film

"It isn't really about anything except making a commercial narrative movie outside the industry."

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The New Yorker

"A gripping, drum-tight noir masterpiece to compare with Touch of Evil."

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The Guardian

"Watching this beautiful restoration of "Blood Simple" I was actually struck by how non-bleak it is, how much the strength of the film lies in images of beauty, defiance and survival."

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Salon

""Blood Simple" becomes a dazzling comedie noire, a dynamic, virtuoso display by a couple of talented fledgling filmmakers who give the conventions of the genre such a thorough workout that the result is a movie that's fresh and exhilarating."

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