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The Scarlet Letter

Play trailer Poster for The Scarlet Letter R 1995 2h 15m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
11% Tomatometer 35 Reviews 41% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
After a young widow (Demi Moore) has a child and refuses to name the father, a Puritan community forces her to wear the letter A, for adulteress.
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The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter

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Critics Consensus

The Scarlet Letter strays far from its classic source material to tell a story that strains for steamy sensuality and leaves the audience red with unintentional laughter.

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Critics Reviews

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David Ansen Newsweek Feb 1, 2018
... hilariously wrongheaded. Go to Full Review
Carol Buckland CNN.com Jan 5, 2018
Oldman scores a few points as Dimmsdale, but he's ultimately undone by the muttonheaded script. It doesn't help that his character's been turned into a kind of angsty hippie-dippie dude. Go to Full Review
Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader Aug 4, 2009
"Freely adapted from the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne," the credits say cautiously. I'll say. Go to Full Review
Quentin Curtis Independent on Sunday Dec 12, 2017
Hawthorne's moral seriousness gets lost in a sea of slush. Go to Full Review
Charles Cassady Common Sense Media Nov 16, 2010
1/5
Slaughter, sin, and sex in classic-turned-movie misfire. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Teddy B @RT90521672 Oct 22, 2026 Way too much uniteresting backstory for such a concise original narrative. Sure, the source material isn't amazing, but even its overly verbose approach shows more restraint than this dull, overwrought mess. See more thiago s @Thiagostone Oct 10, 2025 Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom See more Alec B @Alec97 Jun 4, 2025 One can fondly remember a time when Hollywood would sink real money into an adaptation like this (the sets, costumes, and cinematography are legitimately great) while still recognizing that the movie features a parade of bad decisions. There's the fact that the movie doesn't reach the beginning of the novel until about an hour and 20 minutes in, the big sex scene is unintentionally hilarious, and the "action packed" finale is baffling. Also the movie takes every opportunity it can to smugly denounce the past. Yes, congratulations 90s filmmakers you were more "enlightened" than 17th century Puritans. See more BC V @RT28066980 Jan 8, 2025 I haven’t read the book so I have no idea what is the difference between the movie and the book! I think the story and acting are great! I love Gary Oldman and Demi’s chemistry! Great movie 👍 See more Shioka O @RT54204327 Dec 6, 2022 I don't know the original story, and I was mostly confused thinking what is the focus of this. There is moral issue because of the period. All in all, this is about sin, and this is a sin. and maybe I have hugely biased by the poor review. There are some famously low rated films and this is one of them, like; Heaven's Gate, Ishtar, Revolution. Demi Moore (is her voice ok?) and Gary Oldman are apparently in their prime time. This also has Robert Duvall. and some scene were just sad to watch. See more nilufer e @Nilicim Dec 22, 2020 It's a classic book that I haven't read but I did enjoy the movie. I had really low expectations because of the critics but it wasn't all bad. It's a solid story and a good effort. See more Read all reviews
The Scarlet Letter

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis After a young widow (Demi Moore) has a child and refuses to name the father, a Puritan community forces her to wear the letter A, for adulteress.
Director
Roland Joffé
Producer
Roland Joffé, Andrew G. Vajna
Screenwriter
Nathaniel Hawthorne, Douglas Day Stewart
Distributor
Hollywood Pictures Home Video, Buena Vista Pictures
Production Co
Moving Pictures, Cinergi Pictures Entertainment, Hollywood Pictures
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 13, 1995, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$10.4M
Runtime
2h 15m
Sound Mix
Surround
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