‎Maps to the Stars (2014) directed by David Cronenberg • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Maps to the Stars

2014 Directed by David Cronenberg

Eventually stars burn out

Driven by an intense need for fame and validation, members of a dysfunctional Hollywood dynasty have lives as dramatic as any movie.

Julianne Moore Mia Wasikowska John Cusack Evan Bird Olivia Williams Robert Pattinson Sarah Gadon Carrie Fisher Kiara Glasco Dawn Greenhalgh Jonathan Watton Jennifer Gibson Gord Rand Justin Kelly Niamh Wilson Clara Pasieka Emilia McCarthy Allegra Fulton Jayne Heitmeyer Domenic Ricci Sean G Robertson Ari Cohen Joe Pingue Christian Lloyd Donald Burda Amanda Brugel Chris Anton Alden Adair

112 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Derek Diercksmeier ★★★★★ 11

If you ever saw David Lynch's Mulholland Dr. and wondered what it might have looked like with David Cronenberg at the helm, then this is the film for you.

This is a great film and one that only Cronenberg could have made.

This is easily Julianne Moore's best performance and the entire cast is terrific

Bruce Wagner's script is equally haunting and satirical.

Howard Shore's score is absolutely beautiful.

David Cronenberg is one of the best filmmakers around and this is one of his finest works to date.
Review by davidehrlich ★★★½

los angeles seems like a nice place.
Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★ 7

Insanity.
Satire.
Brilliance.
Amazing.
Pure Cronenberg.
I loved it.
Review by Matt Singer ★★★ 2

It took two viewings and a two hour discussion to get there, but I'm starting to come around on this movie. It's essentially the incestuous offspring of VIDEODROME and THE BROOD; all child abuse, crackpot therapists, and show business as a sexually transmitted disease. Some have complained that its Hollywood satire feels a little hackneyed -- and they're not wrong. Ultimately, though, that vague sense of staleness fits within MAPS TO THE STARS' suggestion that Hollywood is defined by its complete and utter lack of imagination. There are no new ideas here. The movie Benji is making is a sequel; the movie Havana wants to make is a new version of a film her mother made fifty years ago. In…
Review by Dirk van Eck ★★ 5

From being a millionaire, driven around in a limousine, to driving around millionaires in a limousine. What connection between his two latest features is David Cronenberg trying to communicate through Robert Pattinson, a.k.a. Sparkly Vampire? I do not have a ready answer, but perhaps it’s hidden somewhere in the mumbo-jumbo that constitutes Maps to the Stars; somewhere in-between the forgettable sluggish acting and the pessimisms stacked on pessimisms; somewhere in-between the Hollywood critiques that were fun for twenty minutes, but not for the length of an otherwise plotless movie; somewhere in-between the almost clumsy genre mix of drama, black comedy, ghost horror and psychological thriller. Come on David, you can do better.
Review by ScreeningNotes ★★★

"Mother-daughter incest is so 80's overkill."

Satire of Hollywood nepotism which takes Cronenberg's signature Freudian sexual politics and turns it into a message about how the film industry is in love with itself.

Julianne Moore has unresolved sexual desires for her mother (Electra complex). She hires Mia Wasikowska because she reminds her of her mother (both were injured in fires, fatally in her mother's case). She tries to get hired in a remake of one of her mother's movies in the role of her mother. Mia Wasikowska tries repeatedly to marry her brother before learning that her parents are also brother and sister. Everyone has too much money ("I can't believe I just spent eighteen thousand dollars!"), takes too many…

Recent reviews

Review by Ryan Hookway ★★★½

A funny, weird Hollywood satire with darker themes hidden underneath. This is essentially Cronenbergs Mulholland Drive.
Review by spacewilco ★★★

So this time I think I did my homework: I listened to the writer speak at length, I did some research about him (though sadly I haven't read a book penned by him yet) and tried to watch the film for the second time through this augmented prism...but I still see the same colors.

The first time I thought it was a Hollywood exposé with a good deal of grotesquerie by the numbers, as if Bruce Wagner was piling with glee every possible lurid detail into his screenplay, with the odd inclusion of snippets from Eluard's poem. Anyway, it seemed to me like it was done with visible restraint by Cronenberg, giving an unnatural feeling to this random sensationalism. The…
Review by Jonathan ★★★★

It's only during the end credits that this mercislessly black comedy takes things a little too far, by revealing to me that Agatha Weiss is in fact a fictional character, and thereby heartlessly depriving me of any hope of meeting and marrying her.
Review by Bryan Way ★★

A stale, languid, ridiculous Hollywood satire that misses the mark so completely one has to wonder if it’s a poorly made self-parody. - ▼
Review by Jeff ★★★★½

Movie is out there. I love it. Although I'm sure this is a very close interpretation of Hollywood. Cusack is very strong here, as well as Julianne Moore, and Mia Wasikowska. Evan Bird as well. Seeing Robert Pattinson in this makes me appreciate his performance in Good Time even more. One of Cronenberg's best.
Review by Michael Garmonsway ★★★★½

Let's Try This Again #3

What an insane, bold work of filmmaking. The 80s pastiche jolts harshly against the ultramodern architecture and sleek cinematography. The teenage boy is such a tragic character, driven by his own success towards uncaring sadism. I love movies that don't care about anything except pure vision. It's hard to know why I didn't like this as much previously, but here I find myself perfectly on the film's wavelength. Not sure if it is genius or a mental breakdown but I love it all the same.

Previous rating: 6/10
Review by BrunoBrito ★★★½

É um filme interessante,porém um pouco confuso!
Review by Keith ★★

Got this mostly for Julianne Moore and she didn't disappoint. Unfortunately the film as a whole does disappoint a bit. Difficult to say exactly why though.
Review by Omid ★½

Ever wondered what "Mulholland Drive" would have been like if it was completely devoid of subtlety?