Twelve Monkeys (1995)
The future is history.
In the year 2035, convict James Cole reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to discover the origin of a deadly virus that wiped out nearly all of the earth's population and forced the survivors into underground communities. But when Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990 instead of 1996, he's arrested and locked up in a mental hospital. There he meets psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly and the son of a famous virus expert who may hold the key to the Army of the 12 Monkeys; thought to be responsible for unleashing the killer disease.
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| Type | Movie |
|---|---|
| Released | 29 December 1995 |
| Genre | Science Fiction, Thriller, Mystery |
| Director | Terry Gilliam |
| Starring | Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe and Brad Pitt |
| Runtime | 129 min |
| Rated | R |
| Scores | Rotten Tomatoes (average) 7.6/10 · Metacritic 75/100 · Rotten Tomatoes 88% · IMDb 8.0/10 · TMDB users 7.6/10 |
| Budget | $30 million |
Where to watch Twelve Monkeys
We could not find Twelve Monkeys 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 or buy Twelve Monkeys on Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube and Fandango at Home.
Where to watch Twelve Monkeys in 5 other countries
| Country | Streaming on (price a month) |
|---|---|
| Australia | Binge $19.00 AUD, Foxtel |
| India | Jiohotstar |
| Italy | Skygo, Now TV |
| Japan | Hulu, U-NEXT ¥2189 JPY |
| South Korea | Wavve ₩10900 |
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
Terry Gilliam’s 1995 sci-fi thriller runs 129 minutes and treats time travel less as a science and more as a bureaucratic error. Bruce Willis plays a man sent to the wrong decade, landing in a psychiatric ward where he meets Madeleine Stowe and Brad Pitt. The film is a mystery wrapped in a thriller wrapped in a philosophical headache. It asks whether you can change the past, then answers with a shrug. The tagline calls the future history, which is a dry way of saying you already know how this ends.
What the critics said
Rotten Tomatoes reports 88% positive reviews, averaging 7.6 out of 10. Metacritic gives it a 75, which it labels generally favorable. IMDb users are slightly more generous, landing on 8.0. Roger Ebert called it a celebration of madness and doom, noting the hero is inadequate. Janet Maslin of The New York Times found it fierce and disturbing. Not everyone agreed. Richard Corliss of Time magazine dismissed the time-travel aspect as a cliché, joking it was Jumanji for adults. That is a fair way to say a film failed to land.
How it did with audiences
It cost $30 million and took in $169 million worldwide, a financial result that suggests the timeline finally closed on itself. On TMDB, users rate it 7.6 out of 10. IMDb gives it an 8.0/10 as of February 2026.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched Twelve Monkeys.
Sources
- Twelve Monkeys on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q175038 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “12 Monkeys” 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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