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Sophie's Choice

Play trailer Poster for Sophie's Choice R 1982 2h 31m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
75% Tomatometer 44 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Stingo (Peter MacNicol), a young writer, moves to Brooklyn in 1947 to begin work on his first novel. As he becomes friendly with Sophie (Meryl Streep) and her lover Nathan (Kevin Kline), he learns that Sophie is a Holocaust survivor. Flashbacks reveal her harrowing story, from pre-war prosperity to Auschwitz. In the present, Sophie and Nathan's relationship increasingly unravels as Stingo grows closer to Sophie and Nathan's fragile mental state becomes ever more apparent.
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Sophie's Choice

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Critics Consensus

Sophie's Choice may be more sobering than stirring, but Meryl Streep's Oscar-winning performance holds this postwar period drama together.

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Critics Reviews

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Pauline Kael The New Yorker Sep 19, 2023
An infuriatingly bad movie. Go to Full Review Bob Thomas Associated Press Nov 12, 2018
Sophie's Choice is a rare film, literate, deeply moving and gifted with an absolutely awe-inspiring performance by Meryl Streep. Go to Full Review Stanley Kauffmann The New Republic Jan 9, 2018
In other ways the film is just as unsatisfactory as the book, because it's inseparably strapped to basic flaws. The story has no center, no protagonist. To whom does the action of the novel happen? Go to Full Review Josh Larsen LarsenOnFilm Apr 27, 2026
3/4
Streep has what can only be called a commanding fragility. Go to Full Review Nick Rogers Midwest Film Journal Jun 22, 2024
2.5/5
Meryl Streep's performance is brilliant but too often back-benched by writer-director Alan J. Pakula's pokey, misguided adaptation of William Styron’s novel. Go to Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Sep 7, 2020
9/10
It's both crushing and triumphant. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Robert P @Superbad Sep 25, 2026 Sophie's Choice = a *4* star Movie! See more Tim S. @RottenTim May 25, 2026 Meryl Streep earned her Oscar! Brilliant performance! A choice no mother should ever have to make. See more Jono B. @jberssen Apr 20, 2026 I was so glad I got to see this film. I’ve been wanting to see this since I was a kid Meryl Streep does a fabulous job all the acting and directing I think is well done sometimes it moves a little slow and a little long, but otherwise a great film. See more Orange C @Traveler3187 Mar 25, 2026 It's boring, pointless movie. See more rex W @RT11010153 Feb 25, 2026 Sophie makes two choices in the film: her choice at Auschwitz and her choice between her two lovers. I was really only interested in her choice at Auschwitz. Meryl Steep's clinical, calculating, structured performance is exceptional. See more Jim S @JimStrong3 Feb 15, 2026 Powerhouse acting all around by all three leads, especially Meryl Streep, who performs a high-wire act of balancing mood, emotion, tricky accents, and foreign languages in an absolutely spellbinding performance. See more Read all reviews
Sophie's Choice

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Cast & Crew

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Alan J. Pakula

Director

Meryl Streep

Sophie

Kevin Kline

Nathan

Peter MacNicol

Stingo

Josef Sommer

Narrator

Rita Karin

Yetta

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Sophie's Choice

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Sophie's Choice

Sophie's Choice (1982) Sophie's Choice (1982) Sophie's Choice (1982) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Stingo (Peter MacNicol), a young writer, moves to Brooklyn in 1947 to begin work on his first novel. As he becomes friendly with Sophie (Meryl Streep) and her lover Nathan (Kevin Kline), he learns that Sophie is a Holocaust survivor. Flashbacks reveal her harrowing story, from pre-war prosperity to Auschwitz. In the present, Sophie and Nathan's relationship increasingly unravels as Stingo grows closer to Sophie and Nathan's fragile mental state becomes ever more apparent.
Director
Alan J. Pakula
Producer
Keith Barish, Alan J. Pakula
Screenwriter
Alan J. Pakula
Production Co
Incorporated Television Company, Keith Barish Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 8, 1982, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
May 7, 2015
Runtime
2h 31m
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