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The Human Stain

2003 · 106 min

A somber, reflective drama that slowly reveals buried secrets, demanding patience as it explores identity and regret with a heavy heart.

Directed by
Robert Benton
Genres
Drama, Romance
Tagline
How far would you go to escape the past?
Overview
Coleman Silk is a worldly and admired professor who loses his job after unwittingly making a racial slur. To clear his name, Silk writes a book about the events with his friend and colleague Nathan Zuckerman, who in the process discovers a dark secret Silk has hidden his whole life. All the while, Silk engages in an affair with Faunia Farley, a younger woman whose tormented past threatens to unravel the layers of deception Silk has constructed.

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Directed by
Robert Benton
Genres
Drama, Romance
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • darkstrength 1 of 3
  • romanticstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • identity
  • deception
  • race
  • memory
  • betrayal
Places
  • small town
  • countryside
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Form
  • nonlinear
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action1
Horror1
Humour1
Realism8
Romance5
Tension5
Darkness7
Complexity7
Emotional weight8

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Cast

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Details

Genres
drama, romance
Directed by
Robert Benton
Written by
Nicholas Meyer
Starring
Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris, Gary Sinise, Wentworth Miller, Jacinda Barrett, Harry Lennix, Clark Gregg
Music
Rachel Portman
Cinematography
Jean-Yves Escoffier
Runtime
106 min
Country
France, Germany, United States of America
Languages
English

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