Cape Fear (1991)
Sam Bowden has always provided for his family's future. But the past is coming back to haunt them.
Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.
Rent on Prime Video $3.99 (opens in a new tab) Buy on Prime Video $14.99 (opens in a new tab)
| Type | Movie |
|---|---|
| Released | 13 November 1991 |
| Genre | Drama, Crime, Thriller |
| Director | Martin Scorsese |
| Starring | Nick Nolte, Robert De Niro and Jessica Lange |
| Runtime | 128 min |
| Rated | R |
| Scores | Rotten Tomatoes (average) 7/10 · Rotten Tomatoes 75% · Metacritic 73/100 · TMDB users 7.3/10 |
| Budget | $35 million |
| Box office | $182 million worldwide |
Where to watch Cape Fear
Cape Fear is streaming on Prime Video ($13.98 a month) in the US. If that is the only reason to subscribe, one month of Prime Video is $13.98 at list price.
We check availability daily. Page last updated 30 October 2026. Prices are standard monthly plans and change often, so check with the service before you sign up.
Rent or buy
You can rent or buy Cape Fear on Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube and Fandango at Home.
Where to watch Cape Fear in 29 other countries
| Country | Streaming on (price a month) |
|---|---|
| Albania | SkyShowtime about |
| Andorra | SkyShowtime |
| Angola | Prime Video |
| Australia | Paramount+ |
| Austria | Max €11.99 |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | SkyShowtime about |
| Bulgaria | SkyShowtime €6.99 |
| Croatia | SkyShowtime €8.99 |
| Czechia | SkyShowtime 259 Kč |
| Denmark | SkyShowtime 109 kr DKK |
| Finland | Ruutu, SkyShowtime €9.99 |
| Germany | Max €11.99 |
| Hungary | SkyShowtime 2590 Ft |
| India | Jiohotstar |
| Japan | Prime Video ¥600 JPY, U-NEXT ¥2189 JPY |
| Liechtenstein | Max |
| Luxembourg | Max |
| Netherlands | SkyShowtime €9.99 |
| North Macedonia | SkyShowtime about |
| Norway | SkyShowtime 109 kr NOK |
| Poland | SkyShowtime 34.99 zł |
| Portugal | SkyShowtime €8.99 |
| Romania | SkyShowtime about 37.44 lei |
| Serbia | SkyShowtime about 1058 din |
| Slovakia | SkyShowtime €8.99 |
| Slovenia | SkyShowtime €8.99 |
| Spain | SkyShowtime €8.99 |
| Sweden | SkyShowtime 109 kr SEK |
| Switzerland | Max CHF16.90 |
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
Martin Scorsese directs this 128-minute thriller, where a small-town lawyer’s past mistake returns with a vengeance. The hook is not the plot, but the texture. De Niro plays a man who quotes scripture while planning destruction, and the film leans into that contradiction. It is a slow burn that refuses to look away from the terror in the domestic sphere. The tension lives in the silence between words, not in the shouting. It asks you to sit with the dread of a past that will not stay buried.
What the critics said
Rotten Tomatoes reports a 77% approval rating based on 60 reviews, with a mean score of 6.9 out of 10. Metacritic assigns a weighted average of 73 out of 100, landing in the generally favorable category. The consensus calls it a "gleefully mainstream shocker" anchored by a terrifying Robert De Niro. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it three stars, praising Scorsese as a master of the genre while wondering if the $35 million budget signals a good omen. Audiences polled by CinemaScore awarded it a B+.
How it did with audiences
The budget was $35 million. The worldwide take was $182 million. In Hollywood math, that is a landslide. In accounting, it is a healthy margin. It opened at number one with $10.5 million, beating Curly Sue. It held the spot for a week, then The Addams Family took over. Cape Fear kept earning $10 million more while staying ahead of Beauty and the Beast. On TMDB, users rate it 7.3 out of 10. Audiences voted with their wallets, and the studio counted.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched Cape Fear.
Read more: Sleepers · The Whisper Man
Sources
- Cape Fear on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q501995 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “Cape Fear (1991 film)” 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
Watch it without paying for the whole year
Binge Boss tracks the movie you are on and tells you which services you need this month, and which you can cancel.
Add Cape Fear to your list