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Poster for The Onion Field

The Onion Field

1979 · 122 min

A slow, suffocating true-crime drama that lingers on guilt and legal frustration, leaving a heavy, somber aftertaste.

Directed by
Harold Becker
Genres
Crime, Drama
Starring
John Savage, James Woods, Franklyn Seales
Tagline
What happened in the onion field is true. But the real crime is what happened after.
Overview
An LA police officer is murdered in the onion fields outside of Bakersfield. However, legal loopholes could keep his kidnappers from receiving justice, and his partner is haunted by overwhelming survivor's guilt.

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In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
Directed by
Harold Becker
Genres
Crime, Drama
Starring
John Savage, James Woods, Franklyn Seales
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • darkstrength 3 of 3
  • bleakstrength 3 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
Pacing
slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
demanding, 4 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • guilt
  • justice
  • trauma
  • crime
  • morality
Places
  • big city
  • countryside
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • true story
Content intensity
  • Gore mild
  • Language mild
  • Violence strong
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action3
Horror2
Humour1
Realism9
Romance1
Tension7
Darkness8
Complexity7
Emotional weight9

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
crime, drama
Directed by
Harold Becker
Written by
Joseph Wambaugh
Starring
John Savage, James Woods, Franklyn Seales, Ted Danson, Ronny Cox, David Huffman, Christopher Lloyd, Dianne Hull
Music
Eumir Deodato
Cinematography
Charles Rosher Jr.
Runtime
122 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English

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