The Elephant Man (1980) Reviews & Ratings

Overview · Where to watch · Cast & crew · Reviews

The Elephant Man reviews

The Elephant Man holds a 8.0/10 average from 4,123 TMDB ratings.

_**The ultimate outcast**_ In 1884 London, a doctor (Anthony Hopkins) meets Joseph Merrick, aka The Elephant Man (wrongly called John Merrick in the film) who was being exploited as a freak show attraction. Treves (Hopkins) tries to help Merrick (John Hurt) for the last six years of the latter’s life wherein he becomes cultured, but he inevitably remains an object of curiosity, to high society as well as low society…
— Wuchak (7/10)

Saw this, recently up-converted to 4K at the London Film Festival and, apart from the clear improvements to the quality and detail of the image, I was reminded of just how good it is. Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft play their roles with engaging sincerity - very ably supported by Sir John Gielgud and Dame Wendy Hiller. Prosthetics aside, John Hurt captures both the despair and optimism of Merrick with empathetic…
— CinemaSerf (8/10)

A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity.

Movies like The Elephant Man

If you enjoyed The Elephant Man, these movies have a similar feel:

Can't decide what to watch?

FlickPicker recommends movies from your own taste and the services you subscribe to, and Pick Together lets a whole group vote on tonight's pick. Try the free random movie generator, find movies with AI, or browse trending movies.

Download FlickPicker on the App Store Explore the iPhone app