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Poster for The Squid and the Whale

The Squid and the Whale

2005 · 81 min

A wry, painfully honest look at family fracture, balancing sharp humor with raw emotional truth.

Tagline
Joint custody blows.
Overview
Based on the true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother, The Squid and the Whale tells the touching story of two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.

Search YouTube for the trailer

Rent or buy in the UK
  • Apple TV Store
  • Amazon Video
  • Sky Store
More options Data from JustWatch
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • satiricalstrength 2 of 3
  • cynicalstrength 2 of 3
  • warmstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • family
  • coming-of-age
  • identity
  • betrayal
  • grief
Places
  • big city
  • home
  • school
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • nonlinear
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language strong
  • Violence mild
  • Sex strong
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action1
Horror0
Humour6
Realism9
Romance3
Tension5
Darkness6
Complexity6
Emotional weight8

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Where to watch in the UK

Rent or buy
  • Apple TV Store
  • Amazon Video
  • Sky Store

Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres
comedy, drama
Directed by
Noah Baumbach
Written by
Noah Baumbach
Starring
Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Jesse Eisenberg, Owen Kline, William Baldwin, Halley Feiffer, Anna Paquin, David Benger
Music
Britta Phillips, Dean Wareham
Cinematography
Robert D. Yeoman
Runtime
81 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English

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