Drowning by Numbers
Release date: 1988-09-10
Votes: 173
Genres: Comedy, Crime
Three generations of women who seek to murder their husbands share a solidarity for one another which brings about three copy-cat drownings.
Reviews
CinemaSerf
I actually found this to be one of Peter Greenaway's more accessible films. Though it's still riddled with some surreal imagery that made little, if any, sense to me, it is quite an effective and funny look at the institution of marriage. Now the Colpitts family can't really be accused of having much imagination when it comes to naming their offspring. "Cissie" (Joan Plowright) has "Cissie" (Juliet Stephenson) who has "Cissie (Joely Richardson) and none of these women make matches that they want to endure. There's plenty of philandering going on, so - well use the title as a clue as to just what happens now... This is a strongly characterised drama with three women very much at the top of their game, ably supported by Bernard Hill's rather eccentric "Madgett", that interweaves an intricate serious of - ok, not always the most plausible - sub-plots into a story that's ultimately a revenge comedy. It's a bit on the long side, and it does sag slightly when - I felt, anyway - there is less Plowright on the screen but the dialogue is quickly and pithily delivered, there is loads of rather natural nudity to lend authenticity to the earthiness of the topic and we are left with a powerful assassination of the marriage state and a clear illustration that there are more ways than one to skin a cat (and get away with it!). Michael Nyman has scored this jauntily and together with Sacha Vierny's eclectic style of cinematography, makes this film fun to watch with some deadly undercurrents.
Movie Recommendation
Red Sonja1985-04-09The tyrant Gedren seeks the total power in a world of barbarism. She raids the city Hablac and kills the keeper of a talisman that gives her great power. Red Sonja, sister of the keeper, sets out with her magic sword to overthrow Gedren.More...
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover1989-10-13The wife of an abusive criminal finds solace in the arms of a kind regular guest in her husband's restaurant.More...
Happy End2017-06-21A well-to-do French family living in Calais deal with a series of setbacks and crises while paying little attention to the grim conditions in the refugee camps within a few miles of their home.More...
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril1972-12-30In the fourth film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Ogami Itto is hired to kill a tattooed female assassin and battles Retsudo, head of the Yagyu clan, and his son Gunbei.More...
Prospero's Books1991-08-30An exiled magician finds an opportunity for revenge against his enemies muted when his daughter and the son of his chief enemy fall in love in this uniquely structured retelling of the 'The Tempest'.More...
The Belly of an Architect1987-09-23The American architect Kracklite arrives in Italy, supervising an exhibiton for a French architect, Boullée, famous for his oval structures. Tirelessly dedicated to the project, Kracklite's marriage quickly dissolves along with his health.More...
Lumière!2016-10-03A collection of restored prints from the Lumière Brothers.More...
Dunya & Desie2008-04-17Dunya and Desie are two 18 year old best friends from Amsterdam North. Dunya is Moroccan and Desie is Dutch. On Dunya's Birthday she is told that her marriage has been arranged with a distant cousin in Morocco. Dunya and her family will travel to Morocco to meet him. After Desie discovers that she is pregnant she joins Dunya in Morocco in a search for Desies father.More...
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof1958-08-29An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.More...
The Blackout2019-11-21Contact between most towns on Earth has been severed. A small ring-like area in Eastern Europe still has electricity, and maybe even life is being reported from space. What military forces find outside the ring is shocking.More...
Inside Llewyn Davis2013-10-18In Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, gifted but volatile folk musician Llewyn Davis struggles with money, relationships, and his uncertain future.More...
Coherence2013-09-19Four couples gather for dinner the night a mysterious and powerful comet passes overhead.More...
Top Gun1986-05-16For Lieutenant Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell and his friend and co-pilot Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw, being accepted into an elite training school for fighter pilots is a dream come true. But a tragedy, as well as personal demons, will threaten Pete's dreams of becoming an ace pilot.More...
Annie Hall1977-04-19New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the ditsy Annie Hall.More...
12 Angry Men1957-04-10The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.More...
Parasite2019-05-30All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.More...
American Psycho2000-04-13A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.More...
The Shawshank Redemption1994-09-23Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.More...
Fight Club1999-10-15A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.More...
Room2015-10-16Held captive for 7 years in an enclosed space, a woman and her young son finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.More...
Similar Movies
Sleeping with the Ene...
1991-01-13A young woman fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her nightmarish marriage, but discovers it is impossible to elude her controlling husband.Knockaround Guys
2001-11-30Four sons of well-known New York mobsters must retrieve a bag of cash from a small Montana town ruled by a corrupt sheriff.Idiocracy
2006-09-01To test its top-secret Human Hibernation Project, the Pentagon picks the most average Americans it can find - an Army private and a prostitute - and sends them to the year 2505 after a series of freak events. But when they arrive, they find a civilization so dumbed-down that they're the smartest people around.Smokin' Aces
2006-12-09When a Las Vegas performer-turned-snitch named Buddy Israel decides to turn state's evidence and testify against the mob, it seems that a whole lot of people would like to make sure he's no longer breathing.I Hired a Contract Ki...
1990-10-12After losing his job and realizing that he is alone in the world, a businessman opts to voluntarily end his life. Lacking courage, he hires a contract killer to do the job. Then, while awaiting his demise, he meets a woman and promptly falls in love.The Cable Guy
1996-06-10When recently single Steven moves into his new apartment, cable guy Chip comes to hook him up—and doesn't let go. Initially, Chip is just overzealous in his desire to be Steven's pal, but when Steven tries to end the 'friendship', Chip shows his dark side. He begins stalking Steven, who's left to fend for himself because no one else can believe Chip's capable of such behaviour.Shallow Grave
1994-12-22When David, Juliet, and Alex find their new roommate dead with a large sum of money, they agree to hide the body and keep the cash. However, this newfound fortune gradually corrodes their friendship.Trailer Park Boys: Th...
2006-10-06The boys get arrested for robbing an ATM machine and spend 18 months in jail, upon release they decide to pull off "The Big Dirty", a plan to steal a large amount of coins because they are untraceable and quit their life of crime forever.The Big White
2005-10-27To remedy his financial problems, a travel agent has his eye on a frozen corpse, which just happens to be sought after by two hitmen.Man Bites Dog
1992-08-20The activities of rampaging, indiscriminate serial killer Ben are recorded by a willingly complicit documentary team, who eventually become his accomplices and active participants. Ben provides casual commentary on the nature of his work and arbitrary musings on topics of interest to him, such as music or the conditions of low-income housing, and even goes so far as to introduce the documentary crew to his family. But their reckless indulgences soon get the better of them.Second to None
2016-07-19Frederick Butterfield has always been runner up to his twin brother Herman. When Herman, the older by a mere minute, becomes the world's oldest man, Frederick finally sees an opportunity to be first place.Cabriolet
2024-06-19Always wearing a smiley face, Oh Ji-ah exerts herself no matter what, dreaming of a bright and shining future. But then, she is diagnosed with thymus cancer out of the blue. In spite of that, the company and her family force her hand as usual… While she is living her usual life, her friend Anna comes to see her. Anna, Jia’s role-model as the CEO of a company, suggests going on a tour around the country in a convertible the very next day but Jia refuses to go due to the pile of work she has to do and her upcoming surgery. And the day after, Jia faces the mourning portrait of Anna. Suffering from burn-out, Jia buys a ‘Cabriolet’ convertible with the money she saved up for surgery and takes off on a tour around the country.Requiem Apache
1994-10-11Alan Bleasdale's comic crime caper for Channel 4 about a former getaway driver desperate to leave his life of crime behind. Featuring Alfred Molina, David Ross, Amanda Mealing, Andrew Schofield and Julie Walters. Raymond Murtagh's Requim Apache tells the story of Hamish, who was once one of the criminal underworld's best getaway drivers. Now a new father and retired to the Suffolk countryside, he has to watch the baby at home alone. However, Hamish's peaceful and idyllic new life is shattered when his past rears its ugly head once again, and the old gang comes over for a visit. They make him an offer he dare not refuse to take on one last bank job. However, with no babysitter available, he is forced to take the baby with him.Love Child
No data for this movieA woman is stuck in a loveless marriage to a brutish husband, but when a handsome vagabond stranger appears, her precocious 11-year-old hatches a plan to get rid of his father so that his mother can marry him instead. But things end up backfiring, so he comes up with yet another plan, this one even more devious, with more disastrous and unexpected consequences.Chhakka Panja
2016-09-09Story of five friends Raja (Deepak Raj Giri), Saraswoti (Jeetu Nepal), Magne (Kedar Ghimire) and Buddhi (Buddhi Tamang). Raja is rich but illiterate and enjoys life, and tells his friends to not get married or hold any job. However, he secretly has affairs with married women.Then one day Raja gets married to Champa (Priyanka Karki), and the story enters a serious mode.Happiness
1998-10-11The lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for human connection.The Day of the Beast
1995-10-20The story revolves around a Basque Roman Catholic priest dedicated to committing as many sins as possible, a death metal salesman from Carabanchel, and the Italian host of a TV show on the occult. These go on a literal "trip" through Christmas-time Madrid to hunt for and prevent the reincarnation of the Antichrist.The Ref
1994-03-09A cat burglar is forced to take a bickering, dysfunctional family hostage on Christmas Eve.The Big Hit
1998-04-24Affable hit man Melvin Smiley is constantly being scammed by his cutthroat colleagues in the life-ending business. So, when he and his fellow assassins kidnap the daughter of an electronics mogul, it's naturally Melvin who takes the fall when their prime score turns sour. That's because the girl is the goddaughter of the gang's ruthless crime boss. But, even while dodging bullets, Melvin has to keep his real job secret from his unsuspecting fiancée, Pam.Election
1999-04-23Tracy Flick is running unopposed for this year’s high school student election. But Jim McAllister has a different plan. Partly to establish a more democratic election, and partly to satisfy some deep personal anger toward Tracy, Jim talks football player Paul Metzler to run for president as well.