‎Synecdoche, New York (2008) directed by Charlie Kaufman • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Synecdoche, New York

2008 Directed by Charlie Kaufman

A theater director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play.

Philip Seymour Hoffman Samantha Morton Jennifer Jason Leigh Michelle Williams Catherine Keener Emily Watson Tom Noonan Sadie Goldstein Hope Davis Dianne Wiest Kristen Bush Alice Drummond Amy Wright Deirdre O'Connell Elizabeth Marvel Charles Techman Tom Greer Josh Pais Lynn Cohen Daisy Tahan

124 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Adam Cook ★★★★★ 33

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

**NOTE: This is less a review and more a rough analysis of the film so please do not read if you have yet to see the film.**

I think this will be Kaufman's Eyes Wide Shut in that it won't get the recognition it truly deserves for at least ten years. Synecdoche, New York is pure cinema. No other medium could possibly attempt to tell this story. It would be largely incomprehensible as a novel and too bogged down in detail to have any real emotional resonance. Whilst no theatre could do justice to the scale the story demands or unfold in such a unique time frame.

I appreciate that the film won’t be for everyone but I just fell…
Review by Arielrocks5 ★★★★★ 78

Charlie Kaufman is a man who understands the idea of the human existence in a way that won't be fully be able to accepted among the rest of the world because we all believe that the idea of life is that we just simply have to make the most of it for our own needs and sometimes the needs of others. When in actuality life is a giant stage for us to preform the pain, happiness, laughter, sadness, and pure angry towards our own existence.

And the audience is in the distant future, waiting for our stories to be finished only to then fade into the rest of the unknown entity that is death who is the director and stage…
Review by DirkH ★★★★★ 31

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

This is Charlie Kaufman's crowning achievement. It is not only his best film to date, it is one of the best films I have ever seen.

I rarely come across films anymore that manage to ensnare me in a narrative so disjointed, yet so enthralling I cannot help but be absorbed by it wholly. This film stretches the medium to its limits in a non-obfuscating way that is refreshing, unique and despite the deep layers it possesses, accessible in so far that there is an appealing and universal truth at the surface of it all.

Creation is art is life.

Kaufman's story has to be a film. It was created purposefully for it and he understands the medium so well.…
Review by Lucy ★★★★★ 4

someone, eventually: why do u like this movie so much
me: i have depression
Review by Evan ★★★★★ 5

Synecdoche, New York is a film that must be experienced by everyone. If you have yet to see this movie, I suggest you stop what you're doing and watch it now. Philip Seymour Hoffman truly was one of, if not the best actor of this generation. You're presence will forever be missed, RIP.
Review by YI JIAN ★★★★★ 23

Get busy living, or get busy dying.

Weeks lost in one cut, years lost between scenes, lives lost in a blink of an eye. Time is slipping through our fingers. You may mind your own problems, sort your own miseries as if they are the only thing in this world worthy of your attention. You may play pretend; pretend you are a fairy, or an actor, or an actor playing an actor playing an actor. Set a daily routine for yourself as a distraction from the fact that we are all hurtling towards death. Still, before you know it, reality will catch up with you. You will suddenly wake up on what soon to be your own deathbed and realize…

Recent reviews

Review by SadShinji ★★★★★

I didn't want this to end.
Review by Alan ★★★★★

My favorite movie of all time.

It feels like watching a movie made by an older, more intelligent, and more creative version of me.
Review by Hyperion_ ★★★★

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

Love it or hate it, Synecdoche, New York cannot be denied in its uniqueness. The medium of cinema is dialectical by default, and yet this one states its dialectics both subtly and explicitly—another sublation itself. In addition, I find it enjoyable and rewatchable (there is much to ascertain). Despite its obvious deceptions and perceived 'harshness', Synecdoche, New York is possibly the most honest film I have ever seen. That might seem like an odd qualifier, but note that I am tormented by a pursuit of necessary truths. As for how the film made me feel, I am not ashamed to admit I cried after the first and second viewing. There is too much to say, and I do not want…
Review by erza2018 ★★★★

I still don't think I really understand this movie. Definitely deserves a rewatch. For sure the only movie that's ever made me go on a three-hour walk afterward to collect myself.
Review by thereallucask ★★★★

We create because we want to preserve, share, and live forever. But in the end, time destroys everything, and that is the most bitter irony of all.
Review by Mootart ★★★★★

I remember this came out when I was in high school and was obsessed with Eternal Sunshine. I wanted to see this too since they were both written by Charlie Kaufman and I love the way his brain works.

The problem is, it had just been released, and all I heard about it were the terrible reviews. I read about how it didn't make sense and how Eternal Sunshine was better anyway. For some reason I trusted these people and decided to skip this one.

Now I know that they were fools, the whole lot of them. But they did save me in a way, because instead of seeing this for the first time as an ignorant teenager, I was…
Review by lvcasbonato ★★★★★ 1

alguém tem que parar o charlie kaufman antes que seja tarde demais
Review by Tommy Cunningham ★★★★½

"Nobody loves you when you're down and out
Nobody knows you when you're on cloud nine
Everybody's hustlin' for a buck and a dime
I'll scratch your back and you knife mine
I've been across the water now so many times
I've seen the one eyed witchdoctor leading the blind
And still you ask me do I love you, what you say, what you say
Every time I put my finger on it, it slips away
Every time I put my finger on it, it slips away"
Review by charlie ★★★★★ 4

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

I really don’t know how to feel about this film. I mean, I do, but I don’t. I don’t know. I have so many thoughts and I should’ve written them down but I didn’t. It’s weirdly one of the most personal films I’ve ever watched even though I only really relate to the main character’s depression and inability to keep his shit together. It’s bizarre. It’s a weird loop into a world that I can’t exactly describe yet falls into words perfectly. I don’t know what I just watched. I might not ever rewatch it. It’s a hard film, it challenges you and tears you apart. It’s like going through an emotional shredder and I hate it but I truly can’t get enough of it. What the fuck is Synecdoche, New York?