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"You work for the American Dream--you don't steal it." So says a Minnesota family man early in "A Simple Plan," but he is only repeating an untested theory. Confronted with the actual presence of $4 million in cash, he finds his values bending, and eventually he's trapped in a horror story of greed, guilt and murder.

The materials of Sam Raimi's "A Simple Plan" are not unfamiliar, but rarely is a film this skillful at drawing us, step by step, into the consequences of criminal action. The central character is Hank Mitchell ( Bill Paxton ), who in a narration at the beginning gives us his father's formula for happiness: "A wife he loves. A decent job. Friends and neighbors that like and respect him." His older brother Jacob ( Billy Bob Thornton ), trapped in a lifetime of dim loneliness, would like to go out with a girl who really liked him, and someday farm the place they grew up on. Jacob's best friend Lou ( Brent Briscoe ) basically wants to get by, get drunk and hang out. Hank's pregnant wife Sarah ( Bridget Fonda ) would like enough money so she could plan the week's dinners without checking the coupons in the grocery ads.

All of these dreams seem within reach when the three men stumble across an airplane that has crashed in a nature preserve. On board they find the body of the pilot and a cache of $4 million in bills. "You want to keep it?" Hank asks incredulously. The others do. Soon he does, too. It should be a simple plan to hide the money, wait until spring and divide it among themselves. It's probably drug money, anyway, they tell themselves. Who will know? Who can complain? Hank is the smartest of the three, a college graduate. Jacob, buck-toothed and nearsighted, has never been very bright. Lou is a loose cannon. Can Hank keep them all under control? Some of the most harrowing moments in "A Simple Plan" show Hank watching in agonized frustration as the others make big, dumb blunders. Right after they find the money, for example, a law officer happens by, and what does Jacob do but blurt out to Hank, "Did you tell him about the plane? It sure sounded like a plane." At home, Hank's wife Sarah at first agrees it would be wrong to keep the money, but she turns that moral judgment around in a snap and is soon making smart suggestions: "You have to return some of the money, so it looks like no one has been there." All three men begin to dream of what they could do with the money. Then circumstances inspire one impulsive, reckless act after another--acts I will not reveal, because the strength of this film is in the way it leads its characters into doing things they could never have contemplated.

"A Simple Plan" is one of the year's best films for a lot of reasons, including its ability to involve the audience almost breathlessly in a story of mounting tragedy. Like the reprehensible " Very Bad Things ," it is about friends stumbling into crime and then stumbling into bigger crimes in an attempt to conceal their guilt. One difference between the two films is that "A Simple Plan" faces its moral implications, instead of mocking them. We are not allowed to stand outside the story and feel superior to it; we are drawn along, step by step, as the characters make compromises that lead to unimaginable consequences.

The performances can be described only as flawless: I could not see a single error of tone or feeling. Paxton, Thornton, Fonda and Briscoe don't reach, don't strain and don't signal. They simply embody their characters, in performances based on a clear emotional logic that carries us along from the beginning to the end. Like Richard Brooks' " In Cold Blood " (1968), this is a film about ordinary people capable of monstrous deeds.

Thornton and Fonda have big scenes that, in other hands, might have led to grandstanding. They perform them so directly and simply that we are moved almost to tears--we identify with their feelings even while shuddering at their deeds.

Thornton's character, Jacob, has watched as Hank went to college and achieved what passes for success. At a crucial moment, when his brotherhood is appealed to, he looks at his friend Lou and his brother Hank and says, "We don't have one thing in common, me and him, except maybe our last name." He has another heartbreaking scene, as they talk about women. Hank remembers the name of a girl Jacob dated years ago, in high school. Jacob revealed that the girl's friends bet her $100 she wouldn't go steady with him for a month. As for Fonda, her best moment is a speech about facing a lifetime of struggling to make ends meet.

The characters are rich, full and plausible. Raimi's direction and the screenplay by Scott B. Smith are meticulous in forming and building the characters, and placing them within a film that also functions as a thriller. There is the danger that the theft will be discovered. The deepening hole of crime they dig for themselves. Suspense over the source of the money. Mystery over the true identity of some characters. And two confrontations in the woods--one suspenseful, one heartbreaking.

All of this is seen against a backdrop of Minnesota in the winter (Raimi's friends, the Coen brothers, who made " Fargo ," gave advice him about shooting and lighting in the snow). The blanket of snow muffles voices, gives a soft edge to things, underlines the way the characters are isolated indoors, each in his own warm refuge.

Outdoors, in the woods, foxes kill chickens and men kill each other. Angry black birds scramble to eat dead bodies. "Those things are always waiting for something to die so they can eat it," Jacob says. "What a weird job."

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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A Simple Plan (1998)

Rated R For Violence and Language

123 minutes

Chelcie Ross as Carl

Jack Walsh as Mr. Pederson

Bridget Fonda as Sarah Mitchell

Becky Ann Baker as Nancy

Billy Bob Thornton as Jacob Mitchell

Brent Briscoe as Lou

Gary Cole as Baxter

Bill Paxton as Hank Mitchell

Directed by

Based on the novel by.

• Scott B. Smith

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A Simple Plan Reviews

It's a bona fide thriller that will cause your teeth to grind, your toes to curl, and your brain to consider, "What would I do?"

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 13, 2021

...a slow-moving yet mostly compelling drama that benefits substantially from its stellar performances...

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 25, 2020

Both heartbreaking and chilling, this film explores ancient themes in a contemporary, painfully familiar way.

Full Review | Jun 8, 2018

Sam Raimi, best known for wowing audiences with stylistic gymnastics and manic mayhem, directs this quietly desperate thriller with chilly restraint...

Full Review | Mar 30, 2017

[Raimi] austerely rejects hyped-up camera tricks and jokey shock effects and creates living, complex characters whose fates we care about. The result is easily his finest film to date.

Full Review | Jun 18, 2012

A Simple Plan is lean, elegant, and emotionally complex - a marvel of backwoods classicism.

Full Review | Original Score: A | Sep 7, 2011

powerful, if pedestrian

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 13, 2009

Perfect capers gone horribly, inexorably awry have always kept audiences squirming. But just when we think we've seen it all, Raimi offers a few new wrinkles.

Full Review | Jul 22, 2008

It's been done before, and Raimi doesn't do it much differently or put his own stamp on it.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Oct 31, 2007

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 14, 2007

Full Review | Original Score: A | Apr 25, 2007

Raimi takes the old story about dishonour among thieves and renders it fresh through the calm, cool, steady assurance of the telling.

Full Review | Jun 24, 2006

A great film, and a major leap forward in the career of Sam Raimi.

Full Review | May 26, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 6, 2005

A pre-Spiderman Sam Raimi delivers a stunningly powerful film about the consequences of greed.

Full Review | Original Score: A | Oct 27, 2005

Tenso e trágico.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 25, 2003

What would you do for 4 million dollars? How far would you go to get it? Sam Raimi's brilliant, chilling A Simple Plan tells the story of 4 people that went much too far.

Full Review | Original Score: A | May 22, 2003

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 14, 2003

Overeager to pile so many possible, psych-lite motivations that nothing holds water or compels us very much... Terribly self-serious.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Jan 10, 2003

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A Simple Plan

Time out says, release details.

• Duration: 121 mins

Cast and crew

• Director: Sam Raimi
• Screenwriter: Scott B Smith
• Bill Paxton
• Billy Bob Thornton
• Bridget Fonda
• Brent Briscoe
• Becky Ann Baker
• Chelcie Ross

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Simple Plan, A (United States, 1998)

Beware things that are described as "simple." While this is not the central message of A Simple Plan , it's certainly a byproduct. From the real world, we all know that things which are supposed to be simple - a basic plumbing job, minor car repairs, etc. - frequently turn into intricate nightmares, eating up time, effort, and patience in equal quantities. In Sam Raimi's superior thriller, Hank (Bill Paxton), Jacob (Billy Bob Thorton), Lou (Brent Briscoe), and Sarah (Bridget Fonda) discover that a seemingly uncomplicated, foolproof plan to make them all rich is not without bloody ramifications.

When A Simple Plan begins, Hank is a happy man living out his life in a quiet, rural Midwestern town. He has everything he could possibly want: a pregnant wife he loves, a decent job, and friends and neighbors who like and respect him. Then, one winter day, something happens that is destined to change the fabric of Hank's existence. Out in the woods, he, his mentally-slow brother, Jacob, and a friend, Lou, stumble upon the snow-covered wreckage of a small plane. Inside, they find the mummified corpse of the pilot and a stash of $4.4 million in cash - "The American dream... in a gym bag." Hank wants to leave the money where it is and phone the authorities. Jacob and Lou, however, argue that they should claim the loot as their own, since it probably belonged to drug dealers in the first place. At first, Hank resists, but, eventually, he gives in. Soon, however, the seeds of mistrust infiltrate the small group, pitting brother against brother, and friend against friend, and, as the circle of people who know about the money expands, the threat of discovery grows, until one incident elevates the stakes to life-and-death.

Director Sam Raimi, working from a script written by Scott Smith and using groundwork laid by John Boorman (who, at one point, was set to helm this project), does a marvelous job of depicting the growing tension between the characters. While there are moments that offer shock value, Rami's primary goal is to gradually build the suspense. He draws us into the story by making Bill Paxton's Hank a Jimmy Stewart-type of nice guy - the sort of man it's virtually impossible not to identify with - then showing his slow, gradual spiral into the abyss of greed and self-interest that captures nearly everyone who crosses A Simple Plan 's screen.

Set against a snowy backdrop that recalls the Coen Brothers' Fargo (indeed, Raimi, who has frequently collaborated with the Coens', asked his friends for advice about filming in such conditions), A Simple Plan is saturated with atmosphere. The story is as bleak and chilling as the setting, but, as is his usual style, Raimi injects elements of macabre humor into the movie. This is necessary, if only to momentarily interrupt the constant escalation of tension. Unbroken, A Simple Plan 's suspense might be difficult to take.

The plum role belongs to Billy Bob Thornton, who, in a way, is re-interpreting his lead character from Sling Blade . However, while Jacob is slow and gentle, he's not as dim-witted as he first seems. This is the kind of visible and challenging part that sometimes earns actors Oscar nominations, and, in a year that has been lacking in standout performances, it will be difficult to fault the Academy if Thornton is recognized. This is a strong portrayal, and certainly the most striking that A Simple Plan has to offer.

That's not to say that the other performances are subpar. Bill Paxton, who, with roles in films like Twister, Titanic , and the Mighty Joe Young remake, has made himself into a bankable and likable guy, uses that image to good effect here. Paxton's part is deceptively complex in the way he shows how paranoia, greed, and deception can erode the conscience of even the best-intentioned of men. Brent Briscoe plays Lou as the most untrustworthy and avaricious of souls. And Bridget Fonda offers solid support as a woman who stands by her man - when she's not taking control of his life, that is.

To date, Raimi is best known for the cult classic Evil Dead series, but A Simple Plan is the kind of well-made motion picture that should appeal to a wide audience, thereby lifting the director to a new level of mainstream acceptance. In an era when the technological thriller is taking control of the genre, it's refreshing to see something that relies more on the "old fashioned" plot devices of style, suspense, and the occasional red herring than on gadgets and pyrotechnics. Still, the characters are at the heart of A Simple Plan , and the gruesome complexity of their interaction elevates this film to the level of a midwinter treat.

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A Simple Plan

The temptation is to lump Sam Raimi's first nongenre entry, "A Simple Plan," with the Coen brothers' "Fargo": Both are slices of life about outlandish crimes and Average Joe felons in over their heads, and both blend Grand Guignol and beautiful but foreboding snowscapes, soon to be splattered pink.

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The temptation is to lump Sam Raimi’s first nongenre entry, “A Simple Plan,” with the Coen brothers’ “Fargo”: Both are slices of life about outlandish crimes and Average Joe felons in over their heads, and both blend Grand Guignol and beautiful but foreboding snowscapes, soon to be splattered pink. The key differences are in emphasis and tone: “Fargo” is deadpan noir; “A Simple Plan,” with Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton as Mutt and Jeff siblings, is a more robust Midwestern Gothic that owes as much to Poe as Chandler. For Raimi, whose “Darkman” and “Evil Dead” gorefests remain cult favorites, this is a gamble for more mainstream acceptance. Raimi’s core audience will be disappointed in pic’s brooding tone and relative reserve, while others will be shocked by helmer’s signature mix of mirth and mayhem. Paramount would do well to platform out and take advantage of supportive reviews and word of mouth.

Raimi, working from Scott B. Smith’s novel and script, opens assuredly with ominous echoes of D.H. Lawrence’s “The Fox” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” (squawking black birds are a recurring motif). The setting is small-town Minnesota on New Year’s Eve. Hank Mitchell (Paxton) might as well be Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life”: He’s on first-name basis with everyone, has a beautiful, loving wife named Sarah (Bridget Fonda) and a decent job at the local grain mill. Within minutes, the downside of Hank’s Currier & Ives existence intrudes in the form of half-wit brother Jacob (Thornton) and Jacob’s redneck buddy, Lou (Brent Briscoe), both of whom show open contempt for Hank’s tidy existence.

A freak accident leads to an impromptu fox hunt and an even more freakish find in a remote field: the wreckage of a small plane and, behind a decaying corpse, more than $4 million in crisp $100s. The debate over “the right thing to do” doesn’t last long. Unemployed Jacob and Lou see the money as manna from heaven; Hank the moralist initially resists, but is soon won over by the argument that the green, probably from a drug deal gone bad, has no traceable owner. “It’s the American dream in a goddamn gym bag!” exclaims Lou. Hank agrees to a three-way split, but only if they follow his simple wait-and-see plan.

Of course the blabbermouth confederates start spilling the beans even before they clear the field. In the tradition of “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” greed, paranoia and plain bad luck also play a role, and the body count begins to mount at an alarming rate. Sarah, Hank’s very pregnant wife, is an almost-too-willing accomplice, proving motherhood and murder aren’t always mutually exclusive. It’s Sarah who comes up with the more sophisticated add-ons to Hank’s plan. Her advice backfires and pulls her nice-guy husband in deeper and deeper.

From Kubrick’s “The Killing” to the Coens’ “Blood Simple” to Peter Berg’s “Very Bad Things,” another Toronto fest entry, perfect capers gone horribly, inexorably awry have always kept audiences squirming. But just when we think we’ve seen it all, Raimi offers a few new wrinkles. Hank and Jacob, case studies in deep-seated sibling rivalry, and pic’s ending, bring to mind George and Lennie in “Of Mice and Men.” Hank loves his brother, but also sees him as a lodestone who will probably let enough slip at the local bar to bring the suspiciously friendly town sheriff (Chelcie Ross) knocking.

The plot’s many possibilities always end up back at that snow-covered fuselage, and the audience, like the increasingly troubled Jacob, are made to feel the moral weight of this “victimless” crime.

In the past, Raimi has never allowed himself to stray from full-tilt farce and grisly sight gags, his stock-in-trade. But here, for the first time, he concentrates on character development and complex human emotions. Paxton and the ever-changing Thornton are first-rate as the brothers coping with lingering childhood animosity, even if Thornton in wig and fake overbite sometimes resembles Dana Carvey as Garth. Briscoe is even better as loose cannon Lou, who harbors dangerous resentments towards Hank, who never misses an opportunity to lord it over his accomplices.

Fonda, alas, can do little with a character that goes from normal and nurturing to greedy and conniving seemingly overnight. Ross, the all-smiles sheriff, is always a maddening question mark, and Gary Cole does what he can with a possibly bogus FBI agent who arrives late on the scene.

Raimi films are always strong on the technical side, and this one doesn’t disappoint. Patrizia von Brandenstein’s almost surreal production design underscores economic as well as psychological differences through interior furnishings, and Danny Elfman’s score is at once simple and atavistic, further nailing the man-as-ultimate-predator allegorical elements. Lenser Alar Kivilo, best-known for his fine TV work, explores every sinister nook and cranny in the rural setting; and editors Arthur Coburn and Eric L. Beason correctly keep us guessing as to the severity of the escalating violence. The f/x are subtly integrated.

• Production: A Paramount release of a Paramount/Mutual Film Co. production in association with Savoy Pictures. Produced by James Jacks, Adam Schroeder. Executive producers, Gary Levinsohn, Mark Gordon. Co-producer, Michael Polaire. Directed by Sam Raimi. Screenplay, Scott B. Smith, based on his novel.
• Crew: Camera (Deluxe color, widescreen), Alar Kivilo; editors, Arthur Coburn, Eric L. Beason; music, Danny Elfman; production designer, Patrizia von Brandenstein; art director, James F. Truesdale; set designer, Rando Schmook; set decorator, Hilton Rosemarin; costume designer, Julie Weiss; sound, (Dolby digital/DTS), Ed Novick; special effects supervisor, John D. Milinac; assistant director, Newt Arnold; second unit director, Doug Lefler; second unit camera, Paul Ryan. Reviewed at the Toronto Film Festival (Gala), Sept. 12, 1998. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 117 MIN.
• With: Hank - Bill Paxton Jacob - Billy Bob Thornton Lou - Brent Briscoe Sarah - Bridget Fonda Tom Butler - Jack Walsh Carl - Chelcie Ross Nancy - Becky Ann Baker Baxter - Gary Cole

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FILM REVIEW

FILM REVIEW; A Frozen Setting Frames a Chilling Tale

By Janet Maslin

• Dec. 11, 1998

''Nobody'd ever believe that you'd be capable of doing what you've done,'' the once-wholesome main character in ''A Simple Plan'' is told by his wife, at a point when he can barely believe it himself. Though he begins the story innocently enough, Hank Mitchell (Bill Paxton) winds up digging himself ever deeper into a hole that's impossible to escape. However straightforwardly these events are described, they become ever more gripping and unsettling as the film proceeds. When you get the shivers watching this wintry tale unfold, it won't be from the cold.

Exactly how and why a chance event escalates to such intensity is at the heart of this quietly devastating thriller directed by Sam Raimi, the cult horror director (''The Evil Dead'') who makes a flawless segue into mainstream storytelling. And in an acting collaboration that is as fine as their first, and could share its title (''One False Move''), Mr. Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton play out the consequences of a harmless-sounding error in judgment that winds up leveling everything in its path.

Since this is a year in which films come in pairs (dueling World War II epics, etc.), ''A Simple Plan'' is one of two bleak snowbound dramas so well acted and sharply astute that they light up the holiday season. (Paul Schrader's forthcoming ''Affliction,'' shown at the Sundance Film Festival, is the other.) Adapted by Scott B. Smith from his suspenseful and highly cinematic best seller, it begins with the irresistible hook of a windfall that drops out of the sky. Hank and two other men accidentally happen onto a small airplane that has crashed while carrying $4.4 million in cargo. What they do about this, and how they do it, will shape their fates forever.

The plan of the title: Hank decides he will take the money and hide it for a while, waiting to see if anyone comes to claim it. He assumes this responsibility because he is the only member of the trio who has a job (at a feed store) and shows any sign of responsibility.

The other two men are Hank's childlike brother Jacob, who is played with both sweetness and an edge of danger by Mr. Thornton, and Jacob's friend Lou (Brent Briscoe), later described as ''a 40-year-old out-of-work high school dropout who's proud when people call him the town drunk.'' So Hank, who has a tidy little home, a pretty wife and a baby on the way, is clearly the man in charge.

But Hank's wife, Sarah (Bridget Fonda), turns out to be an unexpectedly powerful player in this drama. Right away, she suggests that Hank return $500,000 to the plane, to ward off suspicions of looting. This winds up having terrible consequences when a nosy farmer gets in the way, and it's only the beginning of the story's lethal complications. As they mount, the film becomes ever more enveloping as a well-honed morality tale rising to a near-biblical level of punishment for its characters' transgressions.

By the time Sarah gets to the maternity ward, nursing her newborn baby as she thinks only of further scheming for Hank, the story has taken on an air of eerily contemporary tragedy. The film's simple visual scheme favors muted tones (with effectively plain production design by Patrizia Von Brandenstein, Alar Kivilo's stark, unfussy cinematography and Danny Elfman's insinuating score) but its moral distinctions are alarmingly gray.

It is by behaving expediently and self-protectively that Hank begins his series of missteps (''I can't afford to go to prison, Jacob!'') in a downfall captured in all its discreet horror. Mr. Paxton's fine, sturdy performance makes it all the more troubling to discover what lurks behind the smooth facade of hard-working Hank.

Mr. Smith's screenplay refines his book to create some especially strong, wrenching encounters between the two brothers, scenes that pivot on Mr. Thornton's haunting mix of menace and fragility in the film's showier role. Their last encounter here is searingly realized, powerfully backed up by all the layers of complicity and betrayal that have come before. By the time it occurs, the viewer has watched an ostensibly small film turn into something that, despite its title, isn't simple at all.

''A Simple Plan'' is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It includes profanity and deadly violence.

A SIMPLE PLAN

Directed by Sam Raimi; written by Scott B. Smith, based on his novel; director of photography, Alar Kivilo; edited by Arthur Coburn and Eric L. Beason; music by Danny Elfman; production designer, Patrizia Von Brandenstein; produced by James Jacks and Adam Schroeder; released by Paramount Pictures. Running time: 120 minutes. This film is rated R.

WITH: Bill Paxton (Hank), Billy Bob Thornton (Jacob), Bridget Fonda (Sarah), Brent Briscoe (Lou), Gary Cole (Baxter), Becky Ann Baker (Nancy), Chelcie Ross (Carl) and Jack Walsh (Tom Butler).

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A Simple Plan

This week's films

Reviews in chronological order (Total 9 reviews)

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19 August 1999 8:03PM

Honest review

I think I must have been watching a different film from everyone else who has written a review. Incredibly weak plot and characterisation. Unbelievable script. I found Billy Bob Thornton's character comedic. Bill Paxton slipped into a murderous character without much thought. I struggled through to the end and wished I had not wasted 2 hours hoping that the film would improve. I love Bill Paxton and felt sad that he made such a weak film.

9 March 2014 10:10AM

What a shocker!

What a shocker! I am leaving this review for three reasons.

1 - Need - I need to tell someone how bad this film is, although old and possibly nobody will ever bother coming here to read this I may save some one two hours of their precious life span.

2 - Therapy - The only way I can come to terms with this film is to share my pain.

3 - I am suspicious of the authenticity of other comments regarding this weak entertainment.

Last night I had the unfortunate pleasure of sitting through this film. To be fair it started up quite stylishly and I thought this is going to be either really good or really bad. "Tad da " it was terrible.

Completely weak and unbelievable characters. Bill Paxon started off being the pillar of a small town community, who would never even steal suddenly turned into a cold blooded murderer with out any remorse at all. Strangely his wife did not seemed to fazed by this either. Just a couple of clean living psycho's living in small town hick's ville.

I am pretty sure this would end the carers of most actors and directors but some how they have managed to get away with this travesty, in the immortal words of Hicks "Game over man, game over"

9 March 2014 10:36AM

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A simple plan, common sense media reviewers.

Masterful thriller about greed has violence, language.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

While there's no direct, positive message -- it's

No real role models here, given that all the chara

Characters shot and killed, with blood spatters. S

A pregnant woman's naked breasts shown while weari

Several uses of "f--k," "motherf----r," "s--t," "b

Frequent social drinking, in bars and at home, bee

Parents need to know that A Simple Plan is a thriller about three men whose lives are turned upside down when they find a bag of money. Based on a novel by Scott B. Smith, it's a masterpiece from Spider-Man director Sam Raimi, and it works on every level: visually, thematically, and emotionally. It…

Positive Messages

While there's no direct, positive message -- it's more of a cautionary tale -- the movie has plenty of material worth discussing. Viewers can talk about the nature of greed, how powerful and corrupting it is, and how it can make people turn against other people. Viewers can also talk about what they might have done differently in the same situation.

Positive Role Models

No real role models here, given that all the characters succumb to the ravages of greed, and almost all of them commit unspeakable acts. Two of the characters, at least, learn a lesson at the end.

Violence & Scariness

Characters shot and killed, with blood spatters. Smothering man to death. Bashing man on head. Reference to a man committing suicide. Crow pecks at character's head. Bloody wound. A fox breaks into a hen house and carries away a dead chicken. Frequent arguing.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

A pregnant woman's naked breasts shown while wearing an open bathrobe. A man tries to grope a woman in a bar.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Several uses of "f--k," "motherf----r," "s--t," "bulls---," "a--hole," "son of a bitch," "ass," "damn," "hell," "jerk," "shut up." Plus "Jesus" and "oh God/oh my God." Middle finger gesture.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Frequent social drinking, in bars and at home, beers and whisky. Dialogue about characters having drunk too much the night before. Drinking and driving. References to drug dealers. Wine at dinner.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that A Simple Plan is a thriller about three men whose lives are turned upside down when they find a bag of money. Based on a novel by Scott B. Smith, it's a masterpiece from Spider-Man director Sam Raimi , and it works on every level: visually, thematically, and emotionally. It includes guns and shooting, characters shot to death, blood spatters, hitting, a mention of suicide, arguing, and more. Language includes several uses of "f--k," "s--t," and plenty more. A pregnant woman's naked breasts are visible while she wears an open bathrobe. A man tries to grope a woman's behind in a bar. Characters drink frequently, in social settings, mostly beer and whisky. There's dialogue about characters drinking too much, a scene of drinking and driving, and dialogue about drug dealers. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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• Parents say (1)

Based on 1 parent review

The complexity of too much money, too soon

What's the story.

In A SIMPLE PLAN, Hank ( Bill Paxton ) works at a feed store in rural Minnesota while his librarian wife Sarah ( Bridget Fonda ) is about to have a baby; they're just getting by, but are happy. Hank's uneducated brother Jacob ( Billy Bob Thornton ) comes over one morning to visit their parents' graves. Jacob brings the low-class, beer-drinking Lou (Brent Briscoe). Driving home, Jacob's dog runs off into the snowy woods, and the trio find a crashed airplane, the pilot dead, and a huge bag of money -- $4.4 million -- in the back. They decide to keep it, but agree that they'll wait until spring to see if anyone comes looking for it. Before long tensions arise, leading to arguing and eventually murder.

Is It Any Good?

Sam Raimi's neo-noir masterpiece is a story of greed and nervous waiting and decaying civility; it brilliantly balances gut-clenching suspense and dynamic violence with nuanced, engaging characters. Expertly adapted by Scott B. Smith from his own debut novel, A Simple Plan reveals a new maturity in director Raimi, best known for his frenzied Evil Dead cult horror movies and his high-spirited hit Spider-Man movies. The movie's use of snow and intertwining, spiderweb-like tree branches visually establishes a sense of entrapment, and images of Hank and Sarah's happy home life slowly taken over by the money's corrupting power create strong drama.

The characters are also key, from Paxton 's college-educated Hank, who likes to take charge, to Thornton 's slow-witted Jacob, who occasionally surprises with demonstrations of his own kind of inner wisdom (Thornton received an Oscar nomination). Fonda rises above the usual third-wheel wife character with Sarah's own whip-smart cleverness; she's almost a femme fatale. Even Briscoe's Lou avoids a backwoods hillbilly stereotype, instead finding his inner pain and defense mechanisms. Raimi pulls all these elements together into a movie that's strongly visual as well as character-driven, and constantly gripping as well as frequently touching. A Simple Plan easily ranks among the greatest film noirs of all time.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about A Simple Plan' s depiction of violence . How did it make you feel? How did the filmmakers achieve this? Were the scenes shocking or thrilling?

How is drinking portrayed? Is it glamorized? Are there consequences for drinking?

What is the nature of greed? Why is it so powerful, and why does it often have such negative results?

What would you have done if you found the money?

How does the movie compare to the original novel?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : December 11, 1998
• Cast : Bill Paxton , Bridget Fonda , Billy Bob Thornton
• Director : Sam Raimi
• Inclusion Information : Indigenous actors
• Studio : Paramount
• Genre : Thriller
• Run time : 121 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : violence and language
• Last updated : June 2, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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The Genre Junkie

Your source for genre films

A Simple Plan (1998) review – Sam Raimi’s best film to date

Sam Raimi has given us several memorable films throughout his four-decade career, including The Evil Dead trilogy (1981–1992), The Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007), Darkman (1990), etc. However, his 1998 film, A Simple Plan, which I still regard as his finest work and one of the best neo-noirs of the 1990s, remains my favorite.

The story takes place during one cold winter in minnesota, where hank (bill paxton) works as a bookkeeper at a feed mill and is one of the few college graduates in town. he is married to sarah (bridget fonda), a librarian who is eight months pregnant, and they lead a reasonably decent life together. on a snowy day, while hank goes to pay a visit to his father’s grave with his older brother jacob (billy bob thornton), who has learning disabilities, and the town drunk, lou (brent briscoe), they stumble upon a crashed plane. inside, they discover a bag worth $4.4 million. initially, hank freaks out and suggests turning the money to the cops, but jacob and lou persuade him to do otherwise. hank reluctantly agrees, but only on the condition that he gets to keep the money until the snow melts and the plane is discovered. by that point, if no one detects the missing cash, they will divide it amongst themselves and leave town. but things don’t go according to plan as the three men begin to question each other’s trust, which leads to betrayal, lies, and murder., based on the 1993 novel of the same name, written by scott smith (who also wrote the film’s screenplay), a simple plan contains a taut script that never lets you off the hook, even for a minute. once the trio discovers the cash, they encounter increasingly tense situations, with each one bringing them closer to capture and making the viewers continually anxious. the first situation is that of a farmer named dwight stephenson (tom carey). there is an exceptionally well-directed sequence in the snow in which hank and jacob are almost caught red-handed by dwight, which forces them to kill him and make it look like an accident. the second situation unfolds when lou, the most volatile of the three, storms into hank’s house one night drunk, demands his cut, and blackmails hank into telling the truth about dwight’s death. as a result, sarah suggests that hank take the two (lou and jacob) out for drinks and trick lou into confessing to the murder to get out of the situation. hank entices jacob into the plan by pledging to assist him in reclaiming the family farm, which jacob desperately desires. as a result, the three get drunk and go to lou’s place in one of the best scenes in the film. here, the creators deftly use jacob’s dilemma to heighten tension; he is torn between wanting to regain control of his family’s property and betraying lou, whom he regards as more of a brother than hank. the third situation involves baxter (gary cole), an fbi agent who arrives in town to investigate the missing plane. but sarah doubts his identity and fears he is after the money, putting hank’s life in danger. each situation puts hank and jacob’s lives in greater peril, which never slows the film’s tempo and keeps viewers engaged..

In the same vein as numerous other films, like The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948), There Will Be Blood (2007), Fargo (1996), No Country for Old Men (2007), and many more, A Simple Plan also explores the theme of greed in great detail. The film illustrates how even the most benevolent or law-abiding person is susceptible to greed. When someone gets a glimmer of hope of having something they never had, the fear of losing it causes them to become avaricious and do things they have never done. Take Sarah’s example. There is a scene in which Hank comes home with a bag of stolen cash and asks her what she will do if she comes across millions of dollars. She confidently replies that she would never keep it and give it to the authorities. But when Sarah sees the cash, her eyes light up. Her attitude begins to change as she fantasizes about the future and the comforts that money can buy, increasing her fear of losing it all. Consequently, she is prepared to employ any means necessary to retain the money, including advising Hank to return to the crash site and leave a portion of the stolen cash ($500,000) inside the plane to avoid suspicion or trick Lou into confessing to killing Stephenson. The film also emphasizes that greed has no bounds and manifests itself in people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and educational levels. Hank is an educated guy but probably the greediest of the three men. Sure, Lou wants money to pay his debts, and Jacob wants to reclaim his family farm, but Hank gets several chances in the film to distance himself from the chaos, but he doesn’t. As a result, he constantly finds himself in trouble and engages in criminal behavior to safeguard the money.

Additionally, the film benefits from each character’s rich and layered characterization, and all the actors execute their respective roles exceedingly well. bill paxton is brilliant as an educated family man who leads a decent life but succumbs to the desire to become rich using shortcuts, which he must pay a heavy price for. bridget fonda plays sarah, a femme fatale-esque character who operates in the background and develops a pathological preoccupation with money. her acting chops are on full display in a scene in which hank tries to get rid of the cash, but she stops him and tells him, with wide eyes and a straight face, how vital the money is for their future, their newborn baby, and herself. it’s a spectacular performance. but billy bob thornton’s performance takes the cake as jacob, who has seen nothing but failure and sadness throughout his life. in one scene (which would have gotten thornton an oscar nomination), he tells hank of his desire to experience happiness rather than loneliness for a change. he also hopes to fall in love once, start a family, and live on the family farm. he believes the money could provide an ideal solution for his problems and bring him joy. you can’t help but cry while watching thornton perform this gut-wrenching scene flawlessly..

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A Simple Plan Review

22 Jan 1999

A Simple Plan

Scott B. Smith's debut novel - which he has adapted for the screen - bears a jacket recommendation from no less than Stephen King ("The best suspense novel of this year"), and it's easy to see why it tickled the great man's fancy. It may not deal in the supernatural but A Simple Plan bears many King parallels with its domestic tale of smalltown equilibrium shattered by an unexpected event. Of all King's stories, A Simple Plan most readily conjures Misery, largely because it's also set in the snowy Midwest, specifically Minnesota - in other words, Fargo country. That it compares favourably with both those films gives you a clue how good it is.

A simple story: the Mitchell brothers, Hank (Paxton) and Jacob (Thornton), are thankfully nothing like their Albert Square namesakes - one is an unassuming, happily-married mill worker, the other a funny-looking simpleton and virgin ("We don't have one thing in common except maybe our last name"). When they stumble upon a crashed plane in the woods with Jacob's buddy Lou (Brent Briscoe), their lives change forever, for inside is a duffel bag containing $4 million cash. The pilot is dead - his eyes forebodingly pecked out by crows - so the three conspire to keep the money until the snow thaws, and then share it out. In covering their tracks, Jacob makes a string of blunders and Hank's Lady Macbeth-like pregnant wife Sarah (Fonda) pushes him deeper and deeper into trouble, involving blackmail, lies and, you guessed it, murder.

Director Raimi apparently received coaching from his pals Joel and Ethan Coen about how best to work in snow, and it figures. A Simple Plan is more than just staged in wintertime, its narrative is deeply embedded in the unyielding drifts: the agonising wait until spring serves to hammer dissensions within the fraternal pact, and yet in masking the accidental conspirators' footprints, the weather also becomes an accomplice. Meanwhile, it gives Raimi a stunning, graphic backdrop against which to play his economical psychodrama; although characterised by acrobatic camerawork in the Evil Dead films and others, A Simple Plan sees the director maturing, and pulling off a remarkably impressive character piece. Which is where Paxton and Thornton come in: the former overcoming a previous blandness (and the fact that he resembles Jack Dee) with a powerful turn as the Minnesotan Macbeth, subtly countered by perhaps Thornton's most three-dimensional hick shtick to date.

As the kind-hearted, guilt-ridden dimwit, he becomes Hank's conscience ("Do you ever feel evil?"), and never plays the part for facile sympathy. Little wonder he's been Golden Globe-nominated and honoured by the LA Film Critics Association for his role (and with those sticky-out teeth, too).

Although the simple plan itself spirals out of control and becomes complicated, this remains a simple, modest film: chilly, engrossing and human. Some of the novel's unpleasantness has been pruned for the screen and wisely so, allowing greater scope for the brothers' uneven relationship to develop (there's a touching scene in which Hank talks Jacob to sleep with soothing memories of their father and we realise that murder has actually brought them closer together). Shallow Grave will inevitably spring to mind, as will The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre, but the film's emphasis on setting, performance and Shakespearean symbolism put it on another shelf entirely.

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A Simple Plan

• Three blue-collar acquaintances come across millions of dollars in lost cash and make a plan to keep their find from the authorities, but it isn't long before complications and mistrust weave their way into the plan.
• Three diverse characters, for the most part intellectually challenged, find a deserted plane with a bag full of millions of dollars inside. They devise a simple plan to keep the money if no-one claims it. Ofcourse, nothing turns out simple... — Filmtwob <[email protected]>
• Two brothers, one a mild-mannered hardware store manager, the other an unemployed slob and a friend stumble onto $4.4 million cash in stolen money. The new-found booty leads Hank, the store manager (with help from his cunning wife), to great lengths to keep the money a secret from local authorities. The three men begin to doubt each other's trust, which leads to shocking results of lies and deceit. — Joel White <[email protected]>
• When Hank, Jacob and Lou find $4.4 million inside a crashed plane in a nature preserve, they quickly come up with the plan to keep the money safe until the plane has been found by others and the dust has settled. But Jacob, Hank's brother, and Lou, a friend, do not behave the way they decided to. Lou, constantly in financial debt, wants his share soon and Jacob wishes to renovate their parents' farm. The trusty atmosphere between the unequal partners dissolves slowly, and intrigues are spun. Also, accidents start happening and when an FBI agent comes into town, looking for a crashed plane, Hank and his partners get into very deep water... — Julian Reischl <[email protected]>
• Hank Mitchell is an ordinary guy who works at a small town feed store. His wife Sarah is expecting, and life is good. One day, Hank goes out with his brother Jacob, a simple loser, and Jacob's friend Lou, the town drunk. Hank and Jacob visit their father's grave, and on the way home a fox runs in front of Jacob's truck, causing them to wreck. Lou insists that the three pursue the fox into the woods to kill it. The three men get into the woods and get to talking. It is clear that Lou resents Hank, accusing him of "putting on airs." Just then, the men discover a crashed plane. Inside is a dead body with no ID and a bag containing several million dollars in cash. Hank wants to call the police, but Lou insists that the three split the money. Hank is reluctant, afraid that they will simply all get in trouble. He finally agrees on the condition that he be allowed to keep the money until spring, and if no one comes looking for it, they will split it and leave town. They bundle up the money and bring it to Jacob's truck. At that point they are approached by Sheriff Jenkins, who just stops to chat. Jacob tells the sheriff that they heard a plane in the distance as Hank nervously excuses themselves. Hank is furious at Jacob and Lou, who thought they could mention the plane to the sheriff in order to absolve themselves of suspicion in the event that the plane is found. Hank takes Lou home to his wife Nancy. They agree that they will keep it a secret from their wives. However, Hank goes home and immediately shows Sarah the money. She brainstorms and suggests that Hank and Jacob return a paltry sum of the money to the plane, so that if it is found, people may not look for the rest. The next day Hank and Jacob (without Lou's knowledge) travel to the plane to return some of the money. Jacob runs into Dwight Stephanson, an old man on a snowmobile. Jacob panics and hits Dwight over the head, presumably killing him. Hank takes the body out to conceal it, but Dwight wakes up. Hank then smothers him in order to protect his brother. Jacob then decides he wants to confess to the murder, but Hank notifies him that he was the one who actually killed Dwight. They load Dwight's body onto the snowmobile and drive it off a bridge, concealing the crime. Jacob brings Hank out to the old family farm. Jacob suggests that when they can spend the money that he should buy the old farm and run it. Hank scoffs, saying that Jacob's idea not only breaks their plan but that Jacob has no clue how to run a farm. Jacob tells Hank that the only reason the family lost the farm was that their father spent his money on Hank's college education. Meanwhile, Sarah has done research and concludes that the money they found was money from a kidnapping, and not a drug deal as they had originally assumed. This makes Hank all the more nervous, especially as one of the kidnappers would still be on the loose. Later, Lou comes to Hank and asks for his share of the money. Hank lies and tells him that it is in a storage locker far out of town. Lou reveals that Jacob told him about Dwight's murder, and threatens to tell the sheriff if Hank doesn't hand over the money. Sarah gives birth to her baby. She then gives Hank another idea: go out with Lou and Jacob and goad Lou into falsely confessing to Dwight's murder, recording the "confession" on tape. Hank asks Jacob to go along with it, but Jacob is very reluctant to betray his only friend. Hank promises Jacob that if he helps, that they can buy the family farm back. Hank and Sarah have Jacob over for dinner. Hank and Jacob talk about their father, with Jacob revealing that their father didn't die in an accident, but committed suicide so the family could have the insurance money. Their family apparently has a history of doing extreme things for money. The next night, Hank and Jacob take Lou out, supposedly to celebrate splitting up the money. Lou acts friendly to Hank but is obviously still resentful. Jacob is quiet and clearly angry with Hank for making him assist with this plan. They go to Lou's house where the men continue their talk. When Lou leaves the living room, Hank tells Jacob to goad Lou into confessing. Jacob gets angry at Hank. When Lou returns, Jacob belittles Hank, much to Lou's amusement. Suddenly, Jacob suggests that the two roleplay Hank's confession. Lou drunkenly goes along with this, saying that he killed Dwight. Hank draws the tape recorder and plays back the false confession. Lou argues that no one will ever believe it. Hank says that Lou is the town drunk and a loser, while Hank is respected, so everyone will believe him. Lou grabs his shotgun and holds it to Hank, demanding the tape. Jacob runs to his truck and grabs his rifle. Lou's wife Nancy comes downstairs and begs Lou to stop. Lou fires a shot just over Hank's head, and appears to be ready to kill Hank. Just then, Jacob shoots Lou in the head, killing him. Nancy is horrified. Hank tries to calm her down, but she grabs Lou's shotgun off the floor. Hank grabs it away from her, but she then runs into the kitchen and gets a pistol. She fires at Hank but he shoots back and kills her. Hank convinces a very distressed Jacob to tell the police that the married couple had a domestic dispute where Lou shot Nancy, forcing Jacob to kill Lou. Jacob agrees, and the two men get away once again. A while later, Sheriff Jenkins shows up at Hank's house during the night. Hank thinks he has been caught, but it turns out that the sheriff picked up Jacob drunk at Lou's house. Hank has Jacob in, who is clearly distraught about the violent turn their lives have taken. Later, Sheriff Jenkins calls Hank over to his office, where he introduces FBI agent Neil Baxter. Baxter tells him that he is searching for a lost plane, and since Jacob mentioned the plane to Sheriff Jenkins earlier on, they wanted to know if they could help with the search. Hank nervously agrees. At home, Hank tells Sarah of this new development. She is certain that Baxter is actually one of the kidnappers. Hank says that he is going to burn the money, but she demands that he doesn't. She names all of the things that they could do with the money and how life would be miserable if they didn't have it. Hank bitterly agrees not to burn it. Hank shows up at the sheriff's office to accompany Jenkins and Baxter on a search. Jacob is a no show. In the office, Sarah calls and tells Hank that she checked with the FBI and there is no agent Baxter. She advises Hank to flee as Baxter will likely kill them both when he finds the plane. Hank stalls for time and grabs a gun from Jenkins' gun cabinet, along with a variety of shells that may or may not fit. They get to the woods. Jacob arrives, saying that he spoke to Sarah on the phone. The sheriff gives Hank a whistle and says that if they find the plane they should fire a shot or blow the whistle and converge. They all split up into the woods, but Jenkins finds the plane and fires a few shots. Hank panics and runs towards the plane, screaming at Jenkins to watch out for Baxter. Just then, Baxter shoots and kills Jenkins. He turns to Hank and demands his money. He forces Hank into the plane to retrieve it. In the plane, Hank struggles to load the pistol. Most of the shells he grabbed don't fit. Finally, one slides into the chamber. He comes out of the plane with the small sum he returned earlier. Baxter looks through it as Hank draws his pistol. Baxter surrenders, but Hank shoots him dead anyway. Jacob arrives and surveys the bodies. Hank starts to concoct another lie, but Jacob says he has had enough. He begs Hank to kill him and frame Baxter for it, or else he will tell the police the entire real truth. Hank tearfully pulls the trigger on Jacob. Hank is taken to the sheriff's office and interviewed by the FBI. They tell him that some of the money in the plane was marked. Hank now knows that the money is useless, since he would quickly be caught spending it. Sarah begs him to keep it anyway, but he burns it in his fireplace. Hank tells us in voiceover that he has tried to go on with life as if nothing ever happened, but that the murderous events constantly haunt him.

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• The fear depicted in The Beast reflects contemporary anxieties, emphasizing the importance of feeling over forgetting.

The Beast is an apt title for a film that often feels untamable. A centuries-spanning romantic odyssey that is equal parts strange sci-fi and high melodrama, Bertrand Bonello's film is unclassifiable, wild, and refreshing. The French director examines how the past never stays in the past and how the baggage we attempt to rid ourselves of from moment to moment, or even from life to life, will inevitably rear its oft-ugly head.

The year is 2044: artificial intelligence controls all facets of a stoic society as humans routinely “erase” their feelings. Hoping to eliminate pain caused by their past-life romances, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) continually falls in love with different incarnations of Louis (George MacKay).

• Though spanning centuries, The Beast brings modern fears into the story
• Léa Seydoux and George MacKay are excellent
• The Beast knows how to balance its sci-fi and romance
• The film lovingly highlights the importance of feelings and not forgetting

The Beast Moves Through Time To Unveil The Past Lives Of Its Central Pair

How they influence the present is just as important.

In 2044, Gabrielle ( Léa Seydoux ) is trying to rid herself of that baggage through a procedure that purifies a person's DNA, purging the patient of leftover emotions from their past lives. This procedure will rid her of these past traumas that cause Gabrielle to feel a lingering sense of doom in the present day. What that doom entails remains a mystery, but she's not the only one hoping to temper feelings of disquiet.

Gabrielle encounters Louis (George MacKay) while prepping for the procedures, and she is drawn to the man with an air of familiarity about him. When she finally dives into her past lives, we see her encounter different versions of Louis that change the course of her various lives. First, the pair meet in Belle-Époque-era Paris. In another life, Louis is an incel stalking Gabrielle as she house-sits a Los Angeles mansion while working as an actress.

The Beast Plays With Genre In Increasingly Exciting Ways

But the inevitability of horror lies around every corner.

In all of these lives, Gabrielle is near fatalistic in her conviction that some bad thing will befall her. The Beast 's real terror, though, comes from actualizing this feeling in its various tales. Whispers of Paris flooding follow Gabrielle and Louis in the early 20th century. Misogyny and violence hover over Gabrielle's life in 2014 Los Angeles. The threat of control follows her everywhere in 2044. The film's score and sound design are unsettling as they mimic or even impact what's happening onscreen.

All of these disparate elements feel like they shouldn't work together, but it's their discordant qualities that allow The Beast to coalesce into a symphony of anxiety.

Tight string arrangements follow Gabrielle as she's stalked through the Los Angeles mansion. Sweeping orchestral music accompanies Louis and Gabrielle's outings in Paris and deep synths serve as a backdrop for the film's minimalist future. All of these disparate elements feel like they shouldn't work together, but it's their discordant qualities that allow The Beast to coalesce into a symphony of anxiety.

In The Beast, The Apocalypse Is A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

The end is just the beginning.

The world is always ending in The Beast, and it's easy to see our own world reflected in the ones portrayed by Bonello. Seydoux's dialed-in performance — detached but all too aware — ensures that we are never too comfortable. Gabrielle's anxieties are much like our own — sea levels rising, political unrest, the erosion of the truth and empathy. Ironic detachment is the mode of our times, but when the irony disappears and all that remains is indifference, the world starts to feel a lot like the future in The Beast .

Even the film itself begins with detachment personified. In 2014, Gabrielle films a scene for what appears to be a horror movie, but in place of the empty house and horrifying monster, the floor and background are green screen. The director asks if she can be afraid of something that isn't really there. Gabrielle says she can. The fear we create in our heads is just as real as the fear created by a world in disarray. Those fears can manifest in people, in world-ending events, or in ideologies.

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By the end, The Beast knows that this fear — Gabrielle's and our own — is not something that can be purged. It is this fear that allows Gabrielle to be sincere, to search for meaning in a world where it is being sucked out of the air. In 2044, Artificial Intelligence rules the world after an unspecified catastrophe.

This catastrophe isn't the one Gabrielle is afraid of, but it is one that perhaps influenced her fear of the future. Our minds are always searching for something to be afraid of. Sometimes we need that fear. Bonello posits that, even in fear, feeling is more important than forgetting, and every little death is a door to another future.

The Beast opens in select theaters on Friday, April 5, expanding to more theaters on April 12.