Elephant

Elephant (2003)

  • 72% of critics liked it
    (154 reviews)

  • 78% of users liked it
    (57,713 ratings)

Director Gus Van Sant returned to the low-key style of his early independent efforts with this semi-improvised exploration of how violence makes its way into a typical American high school. Eric (Eric Deulen) and Alex (Alex Frost) are two close friends who are students in a well-to-do suburb of… More

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R,
Directed By
Written By
Gus Van Sant
Genres
Drama
In Theaters
Nov 7, 2003 Limited
Fine Line Features

Critic Reviews

  • David Denby, New Yorker

    Gus Van Sant's fascinating, mysterious, semidocumentary meditation on the Columbine massacre is not very satisfying, but it's still something to see.

  • Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

    What I'll remember most vividly about Gus Van Sant's extraordinary "Elephant" is not the violent climax but the state of grace that precedes it.

  • Christy Lemire, Associated Press

    The approach is oddly riveting, though, because the tension builds slowly, and you know what's going to happen at the end of the day.

  • , Time Out

    The film doesn't try to explain, but to put us in a subjective time and space, a place where it's impossible not to feel the abject horror of random violence.

  • Peter Rainer, New York Magazine

    Elephant is a lurid tease posing as an art film.

Read all 17 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Emil K


    Elephant is a technical tour de force from one of the most talented American filmmakers of our times. Gus Van Sant has created a haunting cinematic poem with his Elephant. This is a film which has strange and eerie quality in it, and at times it feels that the whole film is happening… More

  • c0up  


    Gus Van Sant's 'Elephant' made me sick in the stomach. Powerful and unsettling, masterful in its direction, editing and sound design. Never have I seen a film de-glamourise violence in this way. You dread it from the moment you see the two kids about to walk into… More

  • Jeff "


    Elephant is a well crafted drama film directed by Gus Van Sant who paints a visceral violent portrait of how violence can find its way in high school. With an effective cast that tells a story that you can't ignore. This film paints a truthful portrait about high school life due… More

  • Cameron S


    At the time of writing this review it's been a little over twenty-four (24) hours since I watched 'Elephant', a Columbine inspired film which had me so mesmerised I feel as if it is still with me at this very moment. I don't really know how to describe it, nothing… More

  • Zach B


    This is one of those films I found not by looking at 'great art films', but by looking up two things that interest me: films that won the Golden Palm d'Or for best film, and the Columbine massacre. While the first one is understandable towards film buffs and geeks… More

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

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Cast

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