Death Watch
1980 · Movie · R · 131 min · ★ 6.3 · 68% critics
In a near-future society where illness is almost gone, a rare dying woman becomes the target of a TV show built around watching her final days. As she tries to escape the spotlight, the story explores privacy, media exploitation, and a culture fascinated by turning suffering into entertainment.
Based on The Unsleeping Eye
Where to watch
Watch free on The Roku Channel — also streaming on The Criterion Channel and Fandor.
2 hours to watch.
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Details
- Original title
- La Mort en direct
- Years
- 1980
- Release date
- 1980-01-23
- Language
- French
- Rated
- R
- Runtime
- 131 min
- Critic score
- 68/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.3/10 (114 votes)
- Box office
- $7,600,000
About
You may like this if you enjoy thoughtful, bleak sci-fi about media voyeurism and mortality, especially if titles like The 10th Victim or Melancholia appeal to you; Not for you if you want fast pacing or a clear-cut payoff.
Pros: ahead-of-its-time premise; haunting atmosphere; strong performances | Cons: slow pacing; uneven focus; thin world-building
Themes
- husband wife relationship
- glasgow, scotland
- yellow press
- dystopia
- terminal illness
- tv reporter
- ex-husband ex-wife relationship
- sensationalism
- cybernetically enhanced
Cast & crew
Romy Schneider
as Katherine Mortenhoe
Harvey Keitel
as Roddy
Harry Dean Stanton
as Vincent Ferriman
Thérèse Liotard
as Tracey
Max von Sydow
as Gerald Mortenhoe
Caroline Langrishe
as Girl in the Bar
William Russell
as Dr. Mason
Vadim Glowna
as Harry Graves
Eva Maria Meineke
as Dr. Klausen
Bernhard Wicki
as Katherine's Dad
Directed by Bertrand Tavernier