• Funny Games (1997)

    An idyllic lakeside vacation home is terrorized by Paul (Arno Frisch) and Peter (Frank Giering), a pair of deeply disturbed young men. When the fearful Anna (Susanne Lothar) is home alone, the two men drop by for a visit that quickly turns violent and terrifying. Husband Georg (Ulrich Mühe) comes to her rescue, but Paul and Peter take the family hostage and subject them to nightmarish abuse and humiliation. From time to time, Paul talks to the film's audience, making it complicit in the horror.

Funny Games
44
metacriticBased on 33 Critics
72
Based on 91 Users

Release Date: 1997

Not Yet Rated |1 hr 48 min

Plot Summary

An idyllic lakeside vacation home is terrorized by Paul (Arno Frisch) and Peter (Frank Giering), a pair of deeply disturbed young men. When the fearful Anna (Susanne Lothar) is home alone, the two men drop by for a visit that quickly turns violent and terrifying. Husband Georg (Ulrich Mühe) comes to her rescue, but Paul and Peter take the family hostage and subject them to nightmarish abuse and humiliation. From time to time, Paul talks to the film's audience, making it complicit in the horror.

Cast: Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Mühe, Frank Giering, Arno Frisch, Stefan Clapczynski, Doris Kunstmann, Christoph Bantzer, Wolfgang Glück

Director: Michael Haneke

Genres: Thriller

Production Co: Lucky Red, Wega Film

Keywords: Revenge, 1990s, Survival, Escape, Murder, Mother, Mystery, Father, Son

Cast & Crew

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Ratings & Reviews

  • 75
    Steven ReaPhiladelphia Inquirer

    Watts, who is one of the film's executive producers, brings a taut intelligence to the proceedings, but her character, like Roth's, is more archetype than actual person. show more

  • 70
    Stephen FarberThe Hollywood Reporter

    Perhaps the best way to appreciate the picture, its few intellectual pretensions notwithstanding, is as a classy horror film with a particularly nasty edge. It's not exactly entertainment, but it casts a poisonous spell. show more

  • 0
    Joe MorgensternWall Street Journal

    In addition to being borderline unendurable, Funny Games is inexplicable, and I don't mean in any philosophical sense. show more

See all critic reviews on metacritic.com