Savage Grace

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Savage Grace

2008

1h 37m

LGBTQ+

History

Drama

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Popcornmeter

38%

Tomatometer

93 Reviews

38%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

This examination of a famous scandal from the 1970s explores the relationship between Barbara Baekeland and her only son, Antony. Barbara, a lonely social climber unhappily married to the wealthy but remote plastics heir Brooks Baekeland, dotes on Antony, who is homosexual. As Barbara tries to "cure" Antony of his sexuality -- sometimes by seducing him herself -- the groundwork is laid for a murderous tragedy.

Critics Consensus

Though visually compelling, the lamentable characters in Savage Grace make for difficult viewing.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Oct 18, 2008

4/5

A sick-room torpor hangs heavily about this masterfully controlled, elegantly composed movie by Tom Kalin.

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Bruce DeMara

Toronto Star

Oct 18, 2008

3/4

While the pace occasionally flags and there are times when we wonder where Kalin is leading us, he maintains a pervasive sense of dread and unease throughout that makes the chilling climax seem both shocking and inevitable.

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Steve Davis

Austin Chronicle

Jul 18, 2008

2/5

Savage Grace is a movie that badly wants to shock you. The only thing that might raise an eyebrow here, however, is the shocking rate at which everyone lights up a cigarette every five minutes.

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David Walsh

World Socialist Web Site

Feb 13, 2021

The film doesn't resonate with much or any of this, to its cost. It is too dry, too isolating, too passive. All in all, the makers of Savage Grace settled for far too little.

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Carlos Marañón

Cinemanía (Spain)

Nov 2, 2020

2/5

One of those classic morbid but elegant Vanity Fair articles. [Full review in Spanish]

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Debbie Lynn Elias

Behind The Lens

Nov 15, 2019

Visually stunning and performance driven, Savage Grace has a carnal savagery that will ravage sensibilities and senses.

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SIMAS C

@simas_eros Oct 23, 2026

Based on a true story, an upper-class family is shaken by a divorce, leaving their bisexual teenage son in the care of his mother—a promiscuous former Hollywood actress. It is a well-crafted film, heavy with eroticism, that approaches the subject of incest almost flippantly within a tragic narrative.

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Haley H

@RT78122068 Jul 30, 2026

One of my most favorite movies. Julianne Moore as Barbara is so beautiful, graceful and also extremely dangerous, vulnerable, pathological. But it’s so attractive, love it.

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Silke B

@Silke1 Oct 10, 2025

A meditation on wealth, international society, mental pathology & vulnerability.

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Alain E

@AlainE May 17, 2025

Sex, drugs and rock n roll do not add up to a watchable movie.

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Fong Kok Hoong F

@RT29722865 Sep 30, 2023

This adaptation of the book of the same name by Natalie Robins and Steven M.L. Aronson is repulsively tantalizing and terrifically acted (both leads would win Oscars for their respective leading roles in 2015) and the distaste of the incestuous relationship between American socialite Barbara Daly Baekeland and her son, Antony, lingers like tobacco smoke in a sickroom left vacant.

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Oct 9, 2018

Julianne Moore was incredible as always. I don't like Eddie Redmayne. Its not like he is a bad actor. Its just his face. He is a very odd looking boy. He is always playing fruity guys . The movie was warped but watchable. I liked the way Julianne never seem to age even when the time frame moved forward in years. I read the story is fabricated to a degree but it still makes it more interesting that is it true. Not to bad. Mother/Son sex scene was a little uncomfortable to watch

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Tom Kalin

Director

Julianne Moore

Barbara Daly Baekeland

Stephen Dillane

Brooks Baekeland

Eddie Redmayne

Tony Baekeland

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Synopsis

This examination of a famous scandal from the 1970s explores the relationship between Barbara Baekeland and her only son, Antony. Barbara, a lonely social climber unhappily married to the wealthy but remote plastics heir Brooks Baekeland, dotes on Antony, who is homosexual. As Barbara tries to "cure" Antony of his sexuality -- sometimes by seducing him herself -- the groundwork is laid for a murderous tragedy.

Director: Tom Kalin
Producer: Christine Vachon, Iker Monfort, Katie Roumel, Pamela Koffler
Screenwriter: Howard A. Rodman
Distributor: IFC First Take
Production Co: Killer Films, Videntia Frames Producciones S.L., Monfort Producciones S.L.
Genre: LGBTQ+, History, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 30, 2008, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 8, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $434.4K
Runtime: 1h 37m

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