Funny Games

1997 Directed by Michael Haneke

Two psychotic young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic "games" with one another for their own amusement.

Ulrich Mühe Susanne Lothar Arno Frisch Frank Giering Stefan Clapczynski Doris Kunstmann Christoph Bantzer Wolfgang Glück Susanne Meneghel Monika Zallinger

Alternative Titles

Violência Gratuita, Horas de terror, 퍼니 게임, Забавные игры, Funny Games - Juegos divertidos

drama thriller horror

109 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Katie ★★★★½ 1

*dog appears*
me - "please god no"
Review by Karsten Runquist ★★★★½ 18

Paul looks and lowkey acts exactly like Alex Honnold which only helps my argument that Alex could kill a person and feel nothing. Like did you see the way he talked about his girlfriend in Free Solo? Sheesh. Anyways this was fucking great!
Review by Aaron ★★★★★ 29

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

“Why are you doing this to us?” “Why not?”
Oh God, Mother. Blood. Blood.
And so Norman will clean up, as he has done before. The efficiency of his cleansing is the product of repetition. Ritualistic anger followed by ritualistic ablution. He packs Marion’s body, wrapped carefully in the dislodged shower curtain, in the trunk of her car. Everything must go, including the bulky newspaper on the nightstand—this was a crime of passion, not profit.
On to the swamp, which must by now be getting crowded. Shift to neutral, give a slight push, and watch your problems swallowed up by the façade of domestic tranquility. What a good son.
But wait. The car has stopped sinking. It can’t remain exposed,…
Review by Larry ★★★★ 13

It all started with the eggs.... Oh god, the egg scene. How painfully awkward. How painfully ominous. How painfully nerve wracking.
Note to self: If a young blonde man with a Hitler youth haircut comes into my home wearing white gloves asking to borrow eggs, lock all the doors and windows. Or get the hell out while you still can.
Last night was my first viewing of the original German version of Funny Games and this morning, I'm still having trouble putting into words what I just saw. The plot is simple enough. A family of three is held hostage by two young men as they are forced to play their sick "game." This setup is already ripe for loads…
Review by CinemaClown ★★★★ 6

Mercilessly playing with the audience's expectations by giving them their fair share of hope but only to snatch it all away at every available opportunity, and making a critical statement against the violence in media & its desensitising effect on modern society, Funny Games is an entirely different level of brutality unleashed by Michael Haneke on the filmgoing crowd and is one psychological horror that cuts real deep.
The story of Funny Games follows a wealthy Austrian family that arrives at its lake house to enjoy their vacation. But their visit soon turns into a nightmare when two young men, whom they first spotted at their next-door neighbours, takes the family hostage in their own house & torture them for their own…
Review by Wes ★★★★ 1

they should have just given them the damn eggs i mean germans do not fuck around with food...could you imagine how shorter this would be if they refused to give them a few lowenbraus

Recent reviews

Review by Marq ★★★★½

Halloween Hype 2019, Part XIII
This violent, unflinching home invasion non-thriller is still powerfully disturbing 20+ years later.
First Criterion Channel stream for this year's viewings.
Review by Bailey Doe ★★★

The first half is amazing and definitely deserves a watch, After that it tanks, tries too hard and loses all sense of itself.
Review by Adam ★★★★½

Not the film to watch immediately after drinking two cups of coffee if you ever want your heart to slow down again.
Review by Dhia Nouioui ★★★★

Michael Haneke made this film in order to look down upon the audience for wanting excessive violence and sex. For liking a home invasion horror film. Yet it is one, and can't escape it, no matter that Haneke says to leave it up to the critics to label it. So it's talking down to fans who'd like these types of films, and says you're horrible for even watching this film.
I felt like this film was a sort of test. A test which I failed. This was the first film I saw where the Director deliberately didn't want you to watch the film. THe entire time I was watching It I couldn't help but think "Why am I watching this…
Review by Buzz ★★★½

ITS EXACTLY THE SAME, I dont get it. why make the same movie?! just Haneke thing I guess. goat.
And fuck American cinema through and through. shame.
those eggs, that fourth wall, that remote control, that feature fucking length film, that ending. goat.
Fuck build up, fuck development, fuck plot, I want cinema, thats all I get from Haneke. goat.
and somehow I still watched it... all the way through the end. goat.
Review by Foxxcoon

hahaha zelden zo gelachen
Review by Marcelo ★★★★★

You're interested until it swifts and then you're even more into this mind breaking, human playing thriller.
Great tension building through some more wide shots than a usual thriller. The German language adds a lot of mistery and this uncomfortable feeling that keeps going throughout the film.
Review by bhinkelman

I will not give a star rating to Funny Games because this is a film that deliberately exists outside of such categories. I also will not say whether I liked it or not because the point of the film is not whether you like it or not. The point is to be challenged and provoked.
Funny Games is flawlessly directed. I might say that its pretentious fourth wall breaking would be too much for me except for the fact, again, that this is the point. You are not supposed to enjoy the film. You are supposed to be uncomfortable the entire time. It's the reason why so much of the violence takes place offscreen: most people would come to this…
Review by SeraphimPaige ★★★½

Bizarre , but expertly executed.