Exotica

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Exotica

R,

1994,

1h 44m,

Drama

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95%

38 Reviews

Tomatometer

83%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

95%

Tomatometer

38 Reviews

83%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

In the upscale Canadian strip club Exotica, Christina (Mia Kirshner) is the most popular dancer, and she's visited nightly by the obsessive Francis (Bruce Greenwood), a depressed tax auditor. Meanwhile, her ex-boyfriend, the club's MC, Eric (Elias Koteas), still jealously pines for her, even as he introduces her onstage. Eric is having his own relationship problems with the club's owner, Zoe (Arsinée Khanjian), who is intent on becoming pregnant with his child.

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Critics Consensus

Exotica simmers with sex and obsession, while successfully doubling as an extreme character study.

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Derek Smith

Slant Magazine

Sep 22, 2022

For all the initial mysteriousness of virtually everyone’s actions, Atom Egoyan is never coy for the sake of being coy.

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Jun 7, 2022

3/4

A central part of the movie's dreamlike ambience derives from the fact that the camera is in motion in practically every shot.

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Robert Horton

Film Comment Magazine

Apr 10, 2018

Atom Egoyan makes his most conventionally-satisfying film in Exotica. I don't mean that as a putdown: it's his best movie, too, though some of his early academic-theory fans may be put off at its accessibility.

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Ray Pride

Newcity

Feb 13, 2025

9/10

The mood is relentless; the gears spark and grind quietly, but spectacularly... The essence... is damage, unexamined, and the pulse of trauma washing ashore.

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David Harris

Spectrum Culture

Apr 25, 2023

As an exploration of trauma and heartbreak, Exotica plumbs the depths of the human heart in ways most films have never dared.

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Brian Susbielles

InSession Film

Feb 14, 2023

It is not a film about sex, but about the emotional impact, a setting provides with its cathartic assistance in healing trauma.

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Anakin G

Feb 15, 2018

A bit overrated, but it gets more interesting towards the end

Hagrid S

Feb 4, 2018

While there's nothing extraordinary about this movie, the steamy atmosphere of the strip club coupled with nuanced character study do their job. The soundtrack featuring Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows" adds to the flavor of the movie.

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Harry P

Oct 15, 2017

Great Canadian film starring the stunning Mia Kirshner!

Rey G

Jul 10, 2017

Excellently compelling, alluring, and original, I only wish I had found the ending a bit more satisfying.

Finn S

Jun 24, 2017

A Great hidden film from the mid-1990s. A sexually charged movie that isn't really about sex at all. This story had me on the edge of my seat and although I knew a little about the story the ending still took me by surprise.

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George S

Jan 25, 2017

Francis (Bruce Greenwood) visits the strip club Exotica every night and gets Christina (Mia Kirshner) to dance for him. There's clearly something deep, personal and not entirely sexual between them. The club's DJ Eric (Elis Koteas) is Christina's former lover and has an unhealthy interest in what's going on between Francis and Christina. Francis's day job is an a tax auditor, and he's auditing the books a pet shop owned by Thomas (Don McKellar), who is hiding a lucrative smuggling business. Thomas will get pulled into the situation in the club. Everyone in this slow, methodical psycho-drama is connected via tight circles. Francis hires his niece to babysit even though he appears to have no child ... how is this connected to his relationship with Christina? The club owner (Arsinée Khanjian) is pregnant ... how is this related to Christina's anger at Eric? Ultimately, almost all questions are answered, and the common link between these characters is need.

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Atom Egoyan

Director

Bruce Greenwood

Francis Brown

Mia Kirshner

Christina

Don McKellar

Thomas Pinto

Arsinée Khanjian

Zoe

Elias Koteas

Eric

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Synopsis

In the upscale Canadian strip club Exotica, Christina (Mia Kirshner) is the most popular dancer, and she's visited nightly by the obsessive Francis (Bruce Greenwood), a depressed tax auditor. Meanwhile, her ex-boyfriend, the club's MC, Eric (Elias Koteas), still jealously pines for her, even as he introduces her onstage. Eric is having his own relationship problems with the club's owner, Zoe (Arsinée Khanjian), who is intent on becoming pregnant with his child.

Director: Atom Egoyan
Producer: Robert Lantos, Camelia Frieberg, Atom Egoyan
Screenwriter: Atom Egoyan
Distributor: Miramax Home Entertainment [us], Miramax Films
Production Co: Miramax Films, Alliance Entertainment
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 3, 1994, Original
Release Date (DVD): Jun 19, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $5.0M
Runtime: 1h 44m
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo

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