The Forty-Year-Old Version
2020 · Movie · R · 123 min · ★ 6.7 · 90% critics
A New York City playwright nearing 40 feels stuck and hungry for a breakthrough. Searching for purpose, she reinvents herself as a rapper while juggling teaching, creative ambitions, and the pressure to prove she still has something new to say.
Also known as The 40-Year-Old Version
Where to watch
Streaming on Netflix.
2 hours to watch.
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Details
- Years
- 2020
- Release date
- 2020-10-02
- Language
- English
- Rated
- R
- Runtime
- 123 min
- Max quality
- UHD
- Critic score
- 90/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.7/10 (116 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want a funny, heartfelt reinvention story with music and creative hustle, in the vein of High Fidelity or Girls5eva; Not for you if you need tight pacing and big surprises.
Pros: sharp, poetic rapping; relatable reinvention story; likable lead energy | Cons: runs too long; uneven pace; predictable comedy beats
Themes
- new york city
- rap music
- rapper
- playwright
- writing workshop
- woman director
- struggling playwright
Awards & recognition
- Sundance U.S. Directing Award: Dramatic · 2020
Cast & crew
Radha Blank
as Radha
Peter Y. Kim
as Archie
Oswin Benjamin
as D
Reed Birney
as J. Whitman
Imani Lewis
as Elaine
T.J. Atoms
as Kamal
Welker White
as Julie
Jacob Ming-Trent
as Lamont
Haskiri Velazquez
as Rosa
Stacey Sargeant
as Stacey
Directed by Radha Blank