MesmeroWatch list, 0 saved

Movie
Poster for A TV Dante

A TV Dante

1990 · 88 min

A dense, collage-like video essay that layers talking-head recitation with kaleidoscopic imagery, demanding close attention as it evokes an unsettling, intellectual descent.

Directed by
Peter Greenaway, Tom Phillips
Starring
John Gielgud, Joanne Whalley, Bob Peck
Overview
A TV Dante is an experimental mini-series directed by Tom Phillips and legendary filmmaker Peter Greenaway. It covers eight of the thirty-four cantos in Dante Alighieri's Inferno, part of his 14th century epic poem The Divine Comedy. The eight cantos of the film are not conventionally dramatised, rather they are illuminated with layered and juxtaposed imagery while the text is read entirely in "talking head" fashion, and punctuated with a kaleidoscopic blend of both newly shot and archival footage.

Your rating is saved. See your suggestions, or find titles like this one below.

Rate it, and Mesmero finds titles that feel like it. You do not need an account.

Search YouTube for a trailer

Add to a list: A TV Dante

You have no lists yet. Name one, and this title goes into it.

All your lists

In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
Directed by
Peter Greenaway, Tom Phillips
Starring
John Gielgud, Joanne Whalley, Bob Peck
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • eeriestrength 2 of 3
  • darkstrength 2 of 3
  • absurdstrength 1 of 3
  • satiricalstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
demanding, 4 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • death
  • faith
  • morality
  • justice
  • power
Places
None
Era
timeless
Audience
adult
Form
  • nonlinear
  • ensemble
Content intensity
  • Gore mild
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action1
Horror3
Humour2
Realism2
Romance1
Tension4
Darkness7
Complexity9
Emotional weight5

More like this

Titles like A TV Dante

TV series

The Kingdom

1994–2022

A queasy, sepia-toned drift through a haunted hospital where dread and deadpan absurdity blur into one long unsettling joke.

Eerie, dark, slow-burn · about death and faith · nonlinear

Via
  • eerie
  • dark
  • death
  • faith
  • nonlinear
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Seasons
3
Details
The KingdomHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

Dante's Inferno

1911

A solemn, dreamlike procession through painted hellscapes, more tableaux than story, unsettling in its stark theatrical imagery.

Eerie, dark · about death and faith · nonlinear

Via
  • eerie
  • dark
  • death
  • faith
  • nonlinear
Pacing
measured
Attention
engaged
Runtime
72 min
Details
Dante's InfernoHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

The Seventh Seal

1957

A solemn, haunting meditation on mortality and faith, unfolding with stark imagery and quiet existential dread.

Dark, slow-burn · about death and faith · nonlinear

Via
  • dark
  • death
  • faith
  • nonlinear
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
96 min
Details
The Seventh SealHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

Pokol - Inferno

1974

A slow, solemn descent through strange and oppressive visions, asking patience and rewarding it with a heavy, dreamlike unease.

Slow-burn · about death and faith

Via
  • death
  • faith
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
56 min
Details
Pokol - InfernoHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

Drowning by Numbers

1988

A wry, meticulously structured puzzle that invites you to spot patterns and numbers while savouring its dark, eccentric humour.

Same director: Peter Greenaway · Dark · about death · nonlinear

Also
Same director: Peter Greenaway
Via
  • dark
  • death
  • nonlinear
Pacing
measured
Attention
demanding
Runtime
119 min
Details
Drowning by NumbersHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

A Zed & Two Noughts

1985

A meticulously composed, darkly comic puzzle that revels in decay, desire, and bizarre symmetries, demanding close attention.

Same writer: Peter Greenaway · Eerie, dark, slow-burn · about death · nonlinear

Also
Same writer: Peter Greenaway
Via
  • eerie
  • dark
  • death
  • nonlinear
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
116 min
Details
A Zed & Two NoughtsHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

Inferno

2008

A stark, ritualistic plunge into darkness, more visual poem than narrative, demanding surrender to its unsettling images.

Eerie, dark, slow-burn · about death and faith · nonlinear

Via
  • eerie
  • dark
  • death
  • faith
  • nonlinear
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
96 min
Details
InfernoHidden from your suggestions.
TV series

Love, Death & Robots

2019–2025

A rapid-fire reel of stylish animated shorts that swings wildly from grisly horror to deadpan comedy, always with a sleek, cynical sci-fi edge.

Dark · about death

Via
  • dark
  • death
Pacing
brisk
Attention
engaged
Seasons
4
Details
Love, Death & RobotsHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

The Baby of Mâcon

1993

A cold, theatrical descent into human cruelty, staged with formal precision and unsettling detachment.

Same writer: Peter Greenaway · Dark, slow-burn · about faith and power · nonlinear

Also
Same writer: Peter Greenaway
Via
  • dark
  • faith
  • power
  • nonlinear
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
122 min
Details
The Baby of MâconHidden from your suggestions.
TV series

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities

2022

A meticulously crafted, unsettling anthology that feels like opening a series of ornate, cursed boxes, each revealing a different, beautifully grim nightmare.

Eerie, dark · about death · nonlinear

Via
  • eerie
  • dark
  • death
  • nonlinear
Pacing
measured
Attention
engaged
Seasons
1
Details
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of CuriositiesHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

Testament of Orpheus

1960

A dreamlike, self-aware meditation on art and mortality, drifting through striking images and symbolic encounters that reward patience over plot.

Slow-burn · about death · nonlinear

Via
  • death
  • nonlinear
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
80 min
Details
Testament of OrpheusHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

The Masque of the Red Death

1964

A lush, theatrical descent into gothic dread, where opulent cruelty and eerie inevitability keep you unsettled and mesmerized.

Eerie, dark · about death and morality · ensemble

Via
  • eerie
  • dark
  • death
  • morality
  • ensemble
Pacing
measured
Attention
engaged
Runtime
90 min
Details
The Masque of the Red DeathHidden from your suggestions.

Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Directed by
Peter Greenaway, Tom Phillips
Starring
John Gielgud, Joanne Whalley, Bob Peck, Laurie Booth, Susan Wooldridge, Susan Crowley, Robert Eddison, David Attenborough
Runtime
88 min
Languages
English

TMDBIMDbLetterboxdWikipediaWikidata