Citizen Kane (1941)
Some called him a hero...others called him a heel.
Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.
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| Type | Movie |
|---|---|
| Released | 17 April 1941 |
| Genre | Mystery, Drama |
| Director | Orson Welles |
| Starring | Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten and Dorothy Comingore |
| Runtime | 119 min |
| Rated | NR |
| Scores | IMDb 8.2/10 · Rotten Tomatoes (average) 9.7/10 · Metacritic 100/100 · Rotten Tomatoes 99% · IMDb 8.2/10 · Letterboxd 4.2/5 · TMDB users 8.0/10 |
| Budget | $839,727 |
Where to watch Citizen Kane
We could not find Citizen Kane on any of the subscription services we track in the US right now. That changes often; open it in Binge Boss and we will show you where it lands.
Rent or buy
You can rent Citizen Kane on Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube, Fandango at Home and Spectrum On Demand. It is also for sale on Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube and Fandango at Home.
Where to watch Citizen Kane in 34 other countries
| Country | Streaming on (price a month) |
|---|---|
| Antigua & Barbuda | Max |
| Argentina | Max $9590 ARS |
| Australia | Tubi |
| Bahamas | Max |
| Barbados | Max |
| Belize | Max |
| Bolivia | Max |
| Brazil | Max R$34.90 |
| Canada | Prime Video $9.99 CAD, Tubi |
| Chile | Max $9590 CLP |
| Colombia | Max $24900 COP |
| Costa Rica | Max |
| Dominican Republic | Max |
| Ecuador | Max $8.29 |
| El Salvador | Max |
| Equatorial Guinea | Prime Video |
| Guatemala | Max |
| Guyana | Max |
| Honduras | Max |
| Jamaica | Max |
| Japan | Prime Video ¥600 JPY, U-NEXT ¥2189 JPY |
| Mexico | Max $149 MXN |
| Nicaragua | Max |
| Panama | Max $8.29 |
| Paraguay | Max |
| Peru | Max S/35.90 |
| South Korea | Watcha |
| Spain | Prime Video €4.99 |
| St. Lucia | Max |
| Trinidad & Tobago | Max |
| Turks & Caicos Islands | Max |
| United Kingdom | BBC iPlayer free, Tubi |
| Uruguay | Max $U399 |
| Venezuela | Max |
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
Orson Welles directs a 119-minute mystery that asks what happened to a man everyone knows, and nobody really understands. The film dissects a life built on power, isolation, and a childhood wound that never healed. It treats the subject as a puzzle where the pieces are all there, but they refuse to fit together neatly. You are not watching a biopic; you are watching a psychological autopsy. The camera moves like a ghost through the rooms of Xanadu, finding more secrets in the architecture than in the dialogue. It is a study in how ambition consumes the people who love you.
What the critics said
Metacritic gave it a perfect 100 in January 2024. That is a rare score, usually reserved for things that either break the scale or are very boring. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 99% as of January 2026, which leaves one tomato on the counter for the skeptics. IMDb holds steady at 8.2 out of 10. Letterboxd users rate it 4.2 out of 5. The numbers are high enough to make the film seem untouchable, which is a strange place for a story about a man who tried to own the sun.
How it did with audiences
Citizen Kane cost $1 million, a budget that sounds modest until you remember it bought the future of cinema. On TMDB, users rate it 8 out of 10. IMDb, using a weighted average method, also places it at 8.2 out of 10 as of February 2026. The numbers are steady.
Where it left its mark
Welles signed a new deal with RKO in 1941, trading creative control for steady work. He lost the right to final cut, a clause that later let the studio re-cut The Magnificent Ambersons against his will. His contract ended in 1942 when the studio president resigned.
The film’s reputation took a different path in Europe. André Bazin shifted opinion in 1946, praising its deep focus and mise-en-scène as a form of realism that demands active viewing. His essays helped re-evaluate the movie as a work of art. Back in the U.S., it was largely ignored until television broadcasts in the 1950s and Andrew Sarris’s advocacy. It is often cited as the greatest film ever made, a title that sticks.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched Citizen Kane.
Sources
- Citizen Kane on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q24815 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “Citizen Kane” 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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