The Crying Game

At the height of “The Troubles”, British soldier Jody (Forest Whitaker) is kidnapped and held hostage by the IRA. Over the course of a few days he bonds with one of his captors, Fergus (the lugubrious Stephen Rea) and makes a fateful request…

A huge hit for Miramax in North America on the back of a promotional campaign teasing a jaw-dropping secret, The Crying Game works differently on a second viewing, when you know what’s coming, and certainly we watch it through very different eyes in 2026. Notwithstanding its famous twist, this romantic thriller delivers a rich stew of identity politics, love, violence and desire. Neil Jordan (Mona Lisa; The Company of Wolves) won the Oscar for best original screenplay, one of six nominations for the film, and was briefly promoted to blockbuster status (Interview with a Vampire).

Contemporary audiences will likely have mixed feelings about the movie’s big reveal, but it’s worth giving it a second look.

Content Considerations: Gender or sexual discrimination

The Crying Game searches for its characters’ natures with a yearning that at once unveils yet retains mystery, not only in terms of sexual and political identity, but in the capacity for understanding and compassion.

Brian Eggert, Deep Focus Review

Suspenseful and emotionally complex, skillfully mixing politics with affairs of the heart, The Crying Game is something unexpected, a challenging new way to tell a very old story.

Kenneth Turan, LA Times

An astonishingly good and daring film that richly develops several intertwined thematic lines, The Crying Game takes giant risks that are stunningly rewarded.

Todd McCarthy, Variety

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