Kalifornia

For other uses, see Kalifornia (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with California.
Kalifornia
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDominic Sena
Screenplay byTim Metcalfe
Story by
  • Stephen Levy
  • Tim Metcalfe
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyBojan Bazelli
Edited byMartin Hunter
Music byCarter Burwell
Production
companies
Distributed byGramercy Pictures[1]
Release dates
Running time
117 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$8.5 million[3]
Box office$2.4 million

Kalifornia is a 1993 American road thriller film directed by Dominic Sena, in his feature film directorial debut. It stars Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, David Duchovny, and Michelle Forbes. The film tells the story of a journalist (Duchovny) and his photographer girlfriend (Forbes) traveling cross-country to research serial killings, who unwittingly carpool with a psychopath (Pitt) and his childlike girlfriend (Lewis).

Filmed in Georgia and rural inland California in the spring of 1992, Kalifornia premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival on August 27, 1993, where it was awarded two competition prizes. It was released theatrically the following week in the United States, but was a box office bomb, grossing $2.4 million against a nearly $9 million budget. The film received mixed reviews from critics,[4][5] with some praising its art house sensibility, while others dismissed it as a violent exploitation film. Despite this, the film's acting was largely praised, and critic Roger Ebert heralded the performances of Pitt and Lewis among the best he had ever seen.[6] The film was nominated for three Saturn Awards in 1994, including for Best Horror Film.

  1. ^ Cettl 2003, p. 237.
  2. ^ "Kalifornia". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Los Angeles: American Film Institute. Archived from the original on March 11, 2019. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference sena was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference RT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Metacritic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference ebert was invoked but never defined (see the help page).