Being John Malkovich (1999)
Ever wanted to be someone else? Now you can.
One day at work, unsuccessful puppeteer Craig finds a portal into the head of actor John Malkovich. The portal soon becomes a passion for anybody who enters its mad and controlling world of overtaking another human body.
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| Type | Movie |
|---|---|
| Released | 29 October 1999 |
| Genre | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy |
| Director | Spike Jonze |
| Starring | John Cusack, Cameron Diaz and John Malkovich |
| Runtime | 113 min |
| Rated | R |
| Scores | Rotten Tomatoes (average) 8.2/10 · Rotten Tomatoes 94% · Metacritic 90/100 · IMDb 7.7/10 · TMDB users 7.4/10 |
| Budget | $13 million |
Where to watch Being John Malkovich
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Rent or buy
You can rent or buy Being John Malkovich on Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube and Fandango at Home.
Where to watch Being John Malkovich in 24 other countries
| Country | Streaming on (price a month) |
|---|---|
| Albania | SkyShowtime about , Max |
| Andorra | SkyShowtime |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | SkyShowtime about , Max |
| Bulgaria | SkyShowtime €6.99, Max |
| Croatia | SkyShowtime €8.99, Max |
| Czechia | SkyShowtime 259 Kč, Max |
| Denmark | SkyShowtime 109 kr DKK |
| Finland | SkyShowtime €9.99 |
| Hungary | SkyShowtime 2590 Ft, Max |
| India | Jiohotstar |
| Japan | U-NEXT ¥2189 JPY |
| Moldova | Max |
| Montenegro | Max |
| Netherlands | SkyShowtime €9.99 |
| North Macedonia | Max |
| Norway | SkyShowtime 109 kr NOK |
| Poland | SkyShowtime 34.99 zł, Max 39.99 zł |
| Portugal | SkyShowtime €8.99 |
| Romania | SkyShowtime about 37.45 lei, Max |
| Serbia | SkyShowtime about 1058 din, Max |
| Slovakia | SkyShowtime €8.99, Max |
| Slovenia | SkyShowtime €8.99, Max |
| Spain | SkyShowtime €8.99 |
| Sweden | SkyShowtime 109 kr SEK |
Subscription, free and ad-supported services we track; prices where Binge Boss has a price list for the country. "About" marks a price the service bills in another currency, converted at the day's rate. All countries as data.
What kind of watch this is
Spike Jonze’s 1999 film treats the act of swapping bodies as a bureaucratic nightmare. It is 113 minutes of a man getting lost in a celebrity’s skull, where the commute is mental and the exit is a door in a cabinet. The tone is dry and surreal, turning a fantasy premise into a study of ego and proximity. It does not ask if you want to be someone else; it assumes you do, then shows you the traffic. A smart, unsettling comedy about the cost of borrowing another person’s life.
What the critics said
Critics treated the premise as a gift rather than a gimmick. Rotten Tomatoes shows a 94% approval rating as of August 2024, while Metacritic sits at 90 out of 100 as of July 2025. Roger Ebert gave it four stars, noting the director unveils ideas "slyly." Owen Gleiberman called it "the most excitingly original movie of the year." Ebert later named it the best film of 1999. It joins a short club of movies that colonize a new place.
How it did with audiences
The film spent $13 million to make and pulled in $23 million at the box office. In studio math, that is a modest profit; in reality, it is a polite shrug. TMDB users give it a 7.4 out of 10. IMDb, using a weighted average, sits at 7.7/10 as of March 2026.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched Being John Malkovich.
Sources
- Being John Malkovich on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q649165 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “Being John Malkovich” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
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