Manchester by the Sea (2016)
I can't beat it.
After his older brother passes away, Lee Chandler is forced to return home to care for his 16-year-old nephew. There he is compelled to deal with a tragic past that separated him from his family and the community where he was born and raised.
| Type | Movie |
|---|---|
| Released | 17 November 2016 |
| Genre | Drama |
| Director | Kenneth Lonergan |
| Starring | Casey Affleck, Lucas Hedges and Michelle Williams |
| Runtime | 138 min |
| Rated | R |
| Scores | Rotten Tomatoes (average) 8.8/10 · Rotten Tomatoes 96% · Metacritic 96/100 · IMDb 7.8/10 · TMDB users 7.5/10 |
| Budget | $9 million |
Where to watch Manchester by the Sea
Manchester by the Sea 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
Manchester by the Sea is in US cinemas from 16 December 2016. No store lists it to rent or buy yet.
Where to watch Manchester by the Sea in 52 other countries
| Country | Streaming on (price a month) |
|---|---|
| Albania | Max |
| Antigua & Barbuda | Max |
| Argentina | Max $9590 ARS |
| Austria | Prime Video €8.99 |
| Bahamas | Max |
| Barbados | Max |
| Belize | Max |
| Bolivia | Max |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | Max |
| Brazil | Max R$34.90 |
| Bulgaria | Max |
| Canada | Prime Video $9.99 CAD |
| Chile | Max $9590 CLP |
| Colombia | Max $24900 COP |
| Costa Rica | Max |
| Croatia | Max |
| Czechia | Max |
| Dominican Republic | Max |
| Ecuador | Max $8.29 |
| El Salvador | Max |
| Germany | Prime Video €8.99 |
| Guatemala | Max |
| Guernsey | Prime Video |
| Guyana | Max |
| Honduras | Max |
| Hungary | Max |
| Ireland | Prime Video €6.99 |
| Jamaica | Max |
| Japan | Prime Video ¥600 JPY, U-NEXT ¥2189 JPY |
| Liechtenstein | Prime Video |
| Luxembourg | Prime Video €8.99 |
| Mexico | Max $149 MXN |
| Moldova | Max |
| Montenegro | Max |
| Nicaragua | Max |
| North Macedonia | Max |
| Panama | Max $8.29 |
| Paraguay | Max |
| Peru | Max S/35.90 |
| Poland | Max 39.99 zł |
| Romania | Max |
| Serbia | Max |
| Slovakia | Max |
| Slovenia | Max |
| South Korea | Wavve ₩10900, Watcha, Tving ₩10900 |
| St. Lucia | Max |
| Switzerland | Prime Video CHF8.90 |
| Trinidad & Tobago | Max |
| Turks & Caicos Islands | Max |
| United Kingdom | Prime Video £8.99 GBP |
| 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
Manchester by the Sea is a 138-minute drama about a man who returns to his hometown to care for his brother's son. The film does not promise redemption. It asks whether a person can live with a past that refuses to let them go. Casey Affleck plays Lee, a quiet, exhausted figure whose grief is not a plot point but a physical weight. The story moves at the speed of real life, where apologies are clumsy and healing is rarely a straight line. Kenneth Lonergan directs with a restraint that makes every silence feel heavy. It is a film that trusts you to sit in discomfort rather than telling you what to feel.
What the critics said
The scores are high and consistent. Rotten Tomatoes holds a 96% Tomatometer score as of October 2024, with an average rating of 8.8/10 from rated reviews. Metacritic assigns a Metascore of 96 out of 100 as of August 2025. Critics praised Lonergan’s direction and the ensemble cast, particularly Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams.
Quotes confirm the consensus. Phil de Semlyen of Empire called it "masterfully told and beautifully acted." Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com noted it is "the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time." Even the dissent is specific. Lanre Bakare of The Guardian gave it three stars, arguing the impact is "suffocated by the silence and suffering of its central character." That is a valid critique of tone, not a failure of craft.
How it did with audiences
The budget was $9 million. The worldwide gross hit $79 million. That ratio suggests the accountants finally slept well. On TMDB, users rate it 7.5 out of 10. IMDb audiences gave it a 7.8/10 as of March 2026. The numbers align with a film that opens against Rogue One and still finishes sixth. Not a blockbuster, exactly.
Awards
Manchester by the Sea won 7 awards from 12 nominations. Casey Affleck took the Academy Award for Best Actor, while Kenneth Lonergan won for Best Original Screenplay. The National Board of Review named it the best film of 2016. It was the first film from a digital streaming service to earn a Best Picture nod, a distinction that probably aged well, or maybe it didn't.
What came next for the cast
Lucas Hedges arrived in 2016 with a resume built on Wes Anderson films, then spent the next few years in a different register. Casey Affleck moved from Interstellar to a string of indie dramas that felt smaller and quieter. Kyle Chandler, meanwhile, went from the serious grit of Argo to punching out in Godzilla sequels. The film did not cause these shifts. It just sits in the middle of them, a pivot point where their paths diverged into very different lanes.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched Manchester by the Sea.
Sources
- Manchester by the Sea on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q19864603 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “Manchester by the Sea (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
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