River's Edge

1986 Directed by Tim Hunter

The most controversial film you will see this year.

A group of high school friends discover that they are in the presence of a killer. One of them, Samson, has murdered his girlfriend Jamie. He brags to his friends about killing her, and when they discover he is telling the truth, their reactions vary.

Crispin Glover Keanu Reeves Ione Skye Daniel Roebuck Dennis Hopper Taylor Negron Joshua John Miller Roxana Zal Josh Richman Phillip Brock Tom Bower Constance Forslund Leo Rossi Jim Metzler Tammy L. Smith Danyi Deats Yuzo Nishihara Christopher Peters Richard Richcreek Maeve Odum Francis De L'Etanche du Bois Michael Hungerford

Alternative Titles

Instinto sádico, Messer am Ufer Das

drama crime

99 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Sean Baker 2

Kino Lorber Blu-ray
Review by Hollie Horror ★★★ 4

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Crispin Glover but his performance in River's Edge was constantly trying my patience. It seemed as though no one on set felt comfortable enough to tell him to tone it down a bit and the entire film suffered because of it. Joshua John Miller stole the show as the sociopathic little brother to Keanu Reeves (who was also quite good, along with Ione Sky).
The story in River's Edge was too bizarre not to be based on a true crime, and while the movie was quite interesting, the handful of over-the-top performances were met with an outlandish and hyperbolic look at stoner culture and its supposed lack of morality.
Review by Sally Jane Black ★★★★½ 1

This film has stuck in my head since I first watched it. It cuts deeper than I realized at the time. The dysfunction of the characters builds a picture of trauma, mental illness, violence, poverty, lust, and suburbia that wants to connect dots between them and the legacy of the collective trauma of the Vietnam War, the failings of capitalist patriarchy (though never fully explored or explicit, evident in the families we see), and the need to numb it all. Growing up in a small-town void where culture, family, and any semblance of happiness is a myth for the working class fucks just trying to survive. The ideas of innocence and coming-of-age are dissolved in the loveless communities and cycles…
Review by Vanina ★★★½ 8

"You didn't have to call me a stupid bitch."
"You were driving right past us, we had to yell something."
"I got a name you know. You're lucky I didn't just drive right home."
"Okay, okay, okay. I'm sorry, Clarissa, but you've got to understand that in a time like this where every fucking second counts, a man can't waste his time choosing words."
Crispin Glover in this film is pretty much a drinking game waiting to happen. I want his "gahddaaahmnaaht" as a ringtone, I broke into giggles several times during the film. Luckily, I read this excellent article on the California Shift in American pop-punk recently, and I don't know if that's what's happening in Glover's accent, but…
Review by Branson Reese

One of my favorite style of acting is “how did they not fire this guy?” and Crispin Glover gives one of the genre’s touchstone performances in this. That sounds like an insult but he kicks ass.
Review by The Reel House ★★½ 7

A film that means a lot to a big chunk of people but for me it pretty much didn’t make me feel much or anything really. I think the best part of the movie is the acting : some love it, some hate it. I was somewhere in the middle. The highlight was Keanu Reeves who is just the best #keanusaiance.
I actually learned after watching that one of my favourite directors Richard Linklater is a huge fan of the film and this kind of just made me feel very confused but also even more disappointed that I didn’t have that spark with it.
There’s even a 30 minute video on YouTube of that Linklater talking about his love for the film if you want to see that I’ll link it below. It’s actually a really interesting video. The video didn’t change my mind on the film but it was interesting nonetheless.
Richard Linklater talking about “River’s Edge” (1986)
Review by 👽 ★★★½ 2

whenever keanus long wavy hair went in front of his face and he made a small smile i physically died
Review by Naughty aka Juli Norwood ★★ 1

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

___________________________________________________________________________________
Film #4 of the February Movie Challenge : Keanu Reeves or Bust!
letterboxd.com/naughty/list/february-movie-challenge-keanu-reeves-or/
___________________________________________________________________________________
Loosely based off a real incident involving a girl whom was murdered and raped and the crime went unreported for a couple days!
This obviously left an indelible mark on writer Neal Jimenez! In turn he wrote a bizarre story about a group of young people whom were so unredeemable and unrelatable that the audience would have no other choice but to show them the same lack of compassion and empathy as they did the lifeless corpse who was once their friend!
The characters were so over-the-top (not in a good way) in the quirky and damaged goods department that it actually took away from…
Review by CinemaVoid 🏴‍☠️ ★★★★ 2

Dennis Hopper and Crispin Glover: Just a couple of guys, hanging out with a sex doll, listening to Slayer tunes, no big deal.
Review by Libby Caldwell ★★★½ 5

Films Watched in 2020 - Film 221
Maybe the weirdest coming of age film I’ve ever watched, and I’ve sure seen a lot of them. Super interesting on a story level but also a deeper thematic level. I’d love to revisit this at some point when I can pay more attention to it (two essays tomorrow that I need to prepare for). The acting was kinda all over the place but Keanu was great as always, obviously.
Overall though, I think this is definitely under seen. I reckon a lot of you guys would like it, so check it out!
Review by Cinemonster ★★★★ 9

A barebones drama, directed by Tim Hunter, is centered around a group of mostly burnout friends in rural Oregon who come to find that one of them(Daniel Roebuck) has killed another of their group. The knowledge of the crime has a different effect on everyone as they keep the information to themselves. When one of them finally tells the cops, it pushes things even further towards the edge.
Well shot and quite beautiful, it is highlighted with strong performances by Keanu Reeves(I really said that), Dennis Hopper(as an on-the-lam fella who killed his girl), Roebuck and Ione Skye. The score is quite dodgy at times and ultimately your enjoyment of the film will hinge on how you accept Crispin Glover's…
Review by rosie 🐰 ★★★½

tag yourself im keanus little sister telling him to beat people up

Recent reviews

Review by Mike Drew Flynn ★★★★★

So much for Reagan giving hope to everybody. The dystopian suburbia in this is the real villain, where adults take authority on these teens without any compassion. How does somebody murder his girlfriend and elicit indifference? They’re not so concerned with the cops grilling them as they are with their own egos and self-preservation. Consider this group and then realize the Shermer Bunch was just as conceited. A challenging and potent 80’s indie gem, the amount of talent on the verge giving their all here is staggering. Crispin Glover gives one of his best performances as the underage wino whose only goal is to create sides. Has a lot in common with Blue Velvet, released stateside less than a year…
Review by Matt Hixon

What a lovely little town
Review by Shawn Robare ★★★½

This is such a weird film, both in general and for me personally. I spent years being afraid of watching this movie because it was built up to be something of a snuff film in my head. My sister was totally in the crowd of the teens in this flick. She dated a guy that had Keanu’s look and demeanor from the movie. They both drove ragged out, patched up VWs. And in the short snippets I watched I saw myself in Joshua Miller’s role. Well, he was the kid I thought I wanted to be even though in reality I was more of a Horace from Monster Squad. Anyway, there was a similar incident in my smallish town right…
Review by Ingen ★★★★

A riveting and multi-layered narrative, excellent writing and performances, believable characters, and a lack of gratuitous gore made this a rare pleasure to watch.
Review by moviecameron ★★★★★

Cool beer drinking youth
Review by J_B ★★★

Crispin Glover was in his whole own world here.
Review by hiatt ★★★★½ 3

in a movie where apathy in different forms seems to effect every character, of course the only one actively processing their grief comes across as a weird alien in a teenage human suit. all the performances here are amazing for different reasons (that's how you know this was supremely well directed from an acting standpoint), but it's the decisions made by hunter and glover, and how to deploy glover in opposition to the other characters in the film, that really stands out as superb
Review by Sharnston ★★★★

About 20 minutes into the film our lead spicoli lays out the thesis of the film: "Best friends since second grade have their loyalty tested." What ensues is a baffling pastiche of scenes with amazing dialogue, over the top performances, fratricidal 12 year-olds, and Dennis Hopper's sex doll. Huh? But also, wow.
Review by Khaleel ★★★★★

Something happens in every scene, and there are NOTHING but scenes. One after another, the scenes unfold. Like watching a car accident that turns into a fist fight that starts a riot that dissolves the nation that spirals into a civil war. My God.
Crispin Glover, every second of it, is giving his fucking all. Top 5 fave performances of all time.
The music! The editing! The sheer PLOTTING.
This is a classic.
Review by maxanista15 ★★

Its really pretty and Crispin sure is acting but I don't know how I feel about the treatment of emotions in this. The movie is SO Numb and Desensitised and really keeps that tone throughout. Really Dark Shit.
Review by Queenie ★★★★

I watched this before bed and I didn’t sleep very well and now I can’t stop thinking about it and I’m actually quite upset cause the sentiment resonated weirdly.
Review by JJ ★★★★

Crispin Glover in this is like if Tommy Wiseau could channel his powers for good