Careful

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Careful

1997,

1h 40m,

Comedy/

Drama

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Watchlist

83%

12 Reviews

Tomatometer

81%

250+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

83%

Tomatometer

12 Reviews

81%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

Guy Maddin's early masterpiece takes place in a 19th-century Alpine village where the wary residents--adult, child and animal!--must speak softly and tread lightly lest they cause an avalanche. But sexual frenzies teem in this world of repression, setting off incestuous love triangles and quadrangles with deadly consequences. Bathed in lurid, luminescent tints, Careful resembles a vintage melodrama from another planet--something that could only emerge from the singular mind of Maddin.

Jake Cole

Slant Magazine

Sep 2, 2026

Guy Maddin’s third feature, Careful, is a showcase for the stylistic and thematic tropes that have defined the filmmaker’s work ever since.

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

May 8, 2007

In part a hilarious satire about Canadian timidity, it also comes across periodically as a formalist gem about nothing at all.

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Stephen Holden

New York Times

May 20, 2003

3/5

Careful is one long and amusing pun on German Expressionistic film imagery, Freudian psychology and quasi-Wagnerian storytelling, all carried to absurdist lengths.

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Rob Thomas

Not That Rob Thomas (Substack)

Oct 19, 2026

3/4

While I found it a little difficult to untangle all the various love triangles of the plot, there’s something just so thrilling about Maddin’s singular vision, like a dream remembrance of an old movie you saw on late-night TV years ago.

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Sean Axmaker

Parallax View

Dec 21, 2010

... an utterly demented melodrama tale of the repressed residents of a small alpine village who live in virtual silence...

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Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

Mar 27, 2009

It's certainly an astounding film for its purely spectacular terms.

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Synopsis

Guy Maddin's early masterpiece takes place in a 19th-century Alpine village where the wary residents--adult, child and animal!--must speak softly and tread lightly lest they cause an avalanche. But sexual frenzies teem in this world of repression, setting off incestuous love triangles and quadrangles with deadly consequences. Bathed in lurid, luminescent tints, Careful resembles a vintage melodrama from another planet--something that could only emerge from the singular mind of Maddin.

Director: Guy Maddin
Producer: Greg Klymkiw, Tracy Traeger
Screenwriter: Guy Maddin, George Toles
Distributor: Zeitgeist Films, Kino Video
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 4, 1997, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Jun 26, 2026
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 31, 2016
Runtime: 1h 40m
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.37:1)

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