Safe (1995 film)

Safe
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTodd Haynes
Written byTodd Haynes
Produced byChristine Vachon
Starring
CinematographyAlex Nepomniaschy
Edited byJames Lyons
Music by
  • Brendan Dolan
  • Ed Tomney
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • January 25, 1995 (1995-01-25) (Sundance)
  • June 23, 1995 (1995-06-23) (United States)
Running time
119 minutes
Countries
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$512,245[2]

Safe is a 1995 American psychological horror film written and directed by Todd Haynes and starring Julianne Moore. Set in 1987, it follows a suburban housewife in Los Angeles whose monotonous life is abruptly changed when she becomes sick with a mysterious illness which she believes is caused by the environment around her.

The film topped the "best film of the 1990s" poll by The Village Voice,[3][4] and was described by critics as "the scariest film of the year",[3] "a mesmerizing horror movie",[5] and "a work of feminist counter-cinema".[6] Twenty years after the film's release, Haynes said its themes—disease and immunity in a post-industrial landscape and how recovery is a burden often placed on victims of illness—were even more relevant than they were when the film was released.[7]

  1. ^ "Safe (1995)". BBFC. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  2. ^ "Safe". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  3. ^ a b ""Todd Haynes Q&A | Safe", Retrospective of Todd Haynes films". Film at Lincoln Center, YouTube. November 25, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  4. ^ Criterion Collection
  5. ^ Kempley, Rita (August 4, 1995). "Safe". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  6. ^ Geller, Theresa L. "The Hardest, The Most Difficult Film: Todd Haynes’ Safe as Feminist Film Praxis or what the fuck is this” or “An Indelible Mark: Women and the Work of Todd Haynes”, a presentation, Grinnell College, 2013. page 6.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :14 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).