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Poster for The Center of the World

The Center of the World

2001 · 88 min

A chilly, intimate character study that blurs the line between transaction and connection, leaving a lingering unease.

Directed by
Wayne Wang
Genres
Drama, Romance
Overview
A couple checks into a suite in Las Vegas. In flashbacks we see that he's a computer whiz on the verge of becoming a dot.com millionaire, she's a lap dancer at a club. He's depressed, withdrawing from work, missing meetings with investors. He wants a connection, so he offers her $10,000 to spend three nights with him in Vegas, and she accepts with conditions. Is mutual attraction stirring?

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Directed by
Wayne Wang
Genres
Drama, Romance
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • melancholicstrength 3 of 3
  • darkstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • cynicalstrength 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
  • isolation
  • love
  • identity
  • obsession
  • betrayal
Places
  • big city
  • home
Era
contemporary
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
Horror1
Humour2
Realism8
Romance5
Tension6
Darkness7
Complexity6
Emotional weight8

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Cast

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Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
drama, romance
Directed by
Wayne Wang
Written by
Ellen Benjamin Wong
Starring
Molly Parker, Peter Sarsgaard, Carla Gugino, Shane Edelman, Karry Brown, Alisha Klass, Mel Gorham, Lisa Newlan
Cinematography
Mauro Fiore
Runtime
88 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English

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