--- title: "Cocaine Bear" year: 2023 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/cocaine-bear" fi1m_id: "cocaine-bear" imdb_id: "tt14209916" tmdb_id: 804150 wikidata_id: "Q105840301" fi1m_score: 60 critics_score: 59 critics_reviews: 12 published: "2026-09-10" updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:09.450238+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Cocaine Bear (2023) Directed by Elizabeth Banks · 1h 35m · MPA R · Thriller, Comedy, Crime ## Identity Cocaine Bear - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/cocaine-bear - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** cocaine-bear - **IMDb ID:** tt14209916 - **TMDB ID:** 804150 - **Wikidata ID:** Q105840301 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14209916/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/804150, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105840301 **Fi1m score: 60** · Critics 59 from 12 reviews *In a sentence:* The bear is the only one on screen who knows exactly what film she is in > Elizabeth Banks’s creature comedy does what the title says roughly once every twenty minutes, and does it well. In between, a good cast stands about in a sunlit forest waiting for the next attack, and so did we. ## Synopsis In the 1980s a drug smuggler drops bags of cocaine from a plane over a forest, and a black bear eats a good deal of it. Sari (Keri Russell), a nurse, goes into the woods after her daughter Dee Dee (Brooklynn Prince), who has skipped school with her friend Henry (Christian Convery). Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich) and Daveed (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) are sent by the dealer Syd (Ray Liotta) to recover the product, with a detective, Bob (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), on their trail. Ranger Liz (Margo Martindale) and a wildlife inspector, Peter (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), are already there. Elizabeth Banks directs from a script by Jimmy Warden; it runs 95 minutes and carries a 15 certificate. ## Review Somewhere in the 1980s a smuggler throws duffel bags of cocaine out of a small plane over a forest and then, for reasons the opening scene explains, follows them. A black bear finds the bags. That much is roughly true, and Jimmy Warden’s script takes it from there, sending a nurse (Keri Russell) into the woods after her truant daughter, two of the smuggler’s men (Alden Ehrenreich and O’Shea Jackson Jr.) after the product, a detective (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) after the men, and a park ranger (Margo Martindale) after whatever is making that noise. Elizabeth Banks directs it as a slasher in which the killer has fur and a habit. It is decent fun. It is also slacker than 95 minutes has any right to be. The bear is good. She is a digital creature and never quite stops being one, but she has been given a face that can hold a mood, and the mood is usually appetite. Banks stages the attacks in daylight, which is braver than it sounds. John Guleserian lights the forest bright green and full of sun, so when a limb comes off it comes off in plain view, with no shadow to hide the join. Mark Mothersbaugh scores it with the fat synthesisers of the decade and plays the joke straight, which is the right call. The best sequence involves an ambulance, a country road and a bear that has not finished. We will not say who is in the back. It is the one stretch where Banks, Guleserian and the editor Joel Negron are plainly making the same film: the camera sits low and level with the tarmac, the cuts land on the impact rather than just before it, and the gag builds for a couple of minutes with hardly a line of dialogue to lean on. We laughed, loudly and a little guiltily, because what we were laughing at was a person being dragged along a road at speed. Then we sat through most of a reel waiting to laugh like that again, and did not. The humans hold up their end. Ehrenreich plays Eddie, a widower who has given up on most things, and Jackson plays Daveed, the friend sent to keep him upright, and their bickering is the nearest the film has to a heart. Ray Liotta, in one of his last performances, is Syd, the man who sent them, with the same unblinking menace he brought to everything; the film hardly knows what to do with him once he arrives. Martindale’s Ranger Liz is the funniest person on screen, a woman with a rifle and a crush, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Peter, the wildlife inspector she has the crush on, is the ideal man to be embarrassed by her. Brooklynn Prince and Christian Convery, as the two children who skipped school to paint a waterfall, are better than the material, and the film’s most nervous scene is those two deciding what to do with a brick of something white. The trouble is everything between the attacks. Warden gives the forest too many people and all of them the same errand, so the middle hour is largely different groups walking through the same trees towards the same bear. A pair of hikers (Kristofer Hivju and Hannah Hoekstra) are there to demonstrate the problem. A gang of local teenagers are there to be irritating, and are. Negron, so exact in the ambulance, elsewhere lets scenes run a beat past the joke, and the dialogue has a loose, chatty feel that reads as improvised even where it was not. Aaron Haye’s ranger cabin and Tiziana Corvisieri’s clothes place the decade without fuss. A film called *Cocaine Bear* should not have a lull. This one has three. *Snakes on a Plane* (2006) had one image and stretched it across a whole film. This has one image and stretched it across a whole marketing campaign, and then had to find 95 minutes to put behind it. The reviews so far sit about where we do, with some calling it a riot and some a bore, and we think both are right about different twenty-minute stretches. See it late, with friends and something to drink, and be prepared to talk over the middle. It runs 95 minutes and carries a 15, which seems about right for a film in which a small boy tastes cocaine to see what the fuss is about. *Fi1m score 60, published 10 September 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is Cocaine Bear worth watching?** *Cocaine Bear* is worth watching for a late night with friends and something to drink, and we scored it 60. The bear attacks arrive roughly every twenty minutes and Elizabeth Banks stages them well in broad daylight, but the stretches between them are slack, with too many people walking through the same forest towards the same animal. **How long is Cocaine Bear, and what is it rated?** *Cocaine Bear* runs 1h 35m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a thriller and comedy film. **Where can I watch Cocaine Bear in the US?** *Cocaine Bear* is streaming on Peacock, The Roku Channel and Amazon Prime Video in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How violent or frightening is Cocaine Bear, and is it suitable for children?** *Cocaine Bear* carries a 15 certificate and is not suitable for children. The violence is a slasher's, with limbs coming off in full sunlight and a person dragged along a road at speed, played for laughs rather than dread, and a small boy tastes cocaine to see what the fuss is about. Squeamish adults will wince; teenagers of fifteen and up will mostly laugh. ### Reviews we read (19) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Lovia Gyarkye (75/100, inferred): The critic finds the film infectious, no-apologies entertainment that aims for maximum fun by reveling in farce and gnarly killings. It succeeds as a brisk, breezy ride despite a thin narrative, with committed performances and absurd scenarios that keep viewers engaged. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/cocaine-bear-review-elizabeth-banks-1235330907/) - **Evening Standard**, Charlotte O'Sullivan (70/100, inferred): The critic calls it a raucous comedy that leaves viewers gasping and giggling after an initial yawn, praising its feminist-flavoured populism and how it presents as a farce for boys then swerves direction. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/cocaine-bear-review-elizabeth-banks-b1062280.html) - **Vulture**, Bilge Ebiri (70/100, inferred): The film is just as good as it needs to be, delivering gory insouciance, quotable lines, and atmospheric wandering centered on the bear and cocaine concept. It carries whiffs of 80s adventures and slashers while committing to its own cult-movie purpose without overreaching. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/cocaine-bear-review-a-movie-as-good-as-it-needs-to-be.html) - **Radio Times**, Emma Simmonds (3/5): Banks delivers a mostly entertaining B-movie with a strong cast and deranged energy that balances bad-taste comedy and commercial appeal, but it feels like a one-joke idea that runs out of steam. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/cocaine-bear-review/) - **Screen Daily** (55/100, inferred): Banks leans into trashy B-movie qualities for dark comedy that is only sporadically clever; the bloodier bear attacks work best, but the film does not deliver enough of them to sustain its promise. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/cocaine-bear-review/5179582.article) - **Time Out**, Olly Richards (35/100, inferred): The film is a one-joke comedy that wears thin quickly due to thin scripting, poor tonal control, and underdeveloped characters, though one chaotic sequence hints at untapped potential. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/cocaine-bear-2023) - **Empire**, Ian Freer (30/100, inferred): The critic finds Banks and the screenwriter botch the tone, resulting in a film that is neither scary nor satirical, funny nor frightening, and ultimately a bore due to dull characters and leaden storytelling. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/cocaine-bear/) - **Sight and Sound**, Mark Asch: The critic finds the film less compelling than the true story that inspired it, criticizing its gimmicky tone, dated humor, and inferior CGI effects while noting it functions as a parable about human folly and appetites. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/cocaine-bear-no-paws-thought-this-gruesomely-gimmicky-parable-about-human-folly) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw: Elizabeth Banks’s playfully anarchic creature-feature about a rampaging beast high on drugs is as daft as it is entertaining. It delivers sporadically goofy fun with ripped limbs and a partly parodic family-centred sensibility, leaving Snakes on a Plane standing. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/feb/26/cocaine-bear-review-larky-horror-comedy-is-roaring-good-fun) - **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane: The film delivers exactly the high-concept premise its title promises but stumbles under the weight of its own anticipation, with excess violence and self-aware excess that fails to fully land. The bear's cocaine-fueled antics provide gleeful moments for some audiences, yet the overall execution feels like a tumble from the trailer's buzz. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/03/06/cocaine-bear-quiet-girl-movie-review) - **The New York Times**, Jason Zinoman: The critic finds the film a chaotic horror-comedy whose main joke is its own existence, delivering fun for undemanding viewers but missing opportunities for sharper junk-movie fans. Banks effectively mines 1980s slasher gross-out potential and the bear's drug-fueled rampage. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/24/movies/cocaine-bear-review.html) - **The Times**, Kevin Maher (★★★☆☆): There are guilty pleasure thrills and cartoon double-takes aplenty in this outlandish action-comedy. It takes the real-life curio of a bear ingesting cocaine and slams it against the killer animal genre with mostly pleasing results, though the CGI bear draws discussion. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/cocaine-bear-review-good-yarn-shame-about-the-grizzly-cgi-lrn9tc2dc) - **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman: The critic calls the film luridly preposterous and gonzo goofy rather than so-bad-it's-good, better than "Snakes on a Plane" as a shamelessly flamboyant wilderness slasher-comedy. Banks and the cast embrace the demented lark with stylish gore, memorable set pieces, and a knowing wink that makes it an agreeable celebration of disaffection. [Read](https://variety.com/2023/film/reviews/cocaine-bear-review-elizabeth-banks-keri-russell-alden-ehrenreich-1235531291/) - **The Wrap**, Alonso Duralde (85/100, inferred): Alonso Duralde calls the film a bloody marvel and brilliant comedy of errors and terrors. He praises director Elizabeth Banks for skillfully balancing laughs with dramatic tension and darker intentions throughout. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/cocaine-bear-review-movie/) - **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (80/100, inferred): Pete Hammond finds the film a darkly amusing horror-comedy that delivers scares and laughs in equal measure. He singles out the remarkably believable CGI bear created by WETA for special praise. [Read](https://deadline.com/2023/02/cocaine-bear-review-500-pound-beast-elizabeth-banks-darkly-amusing-horror-comedy-1235269067/) - **Consequence**, Clint Worthington (B-): The critic finds the film an amiable, fleet-footed B-movie that delivers on its absurd premise without fully reaching the expected highs. It singles out the strong buddy chemistry between Alden Ehrenreich and O'Shea Jackson Jr. and the charming '80s period details for praise, while noting the repetitive climax weakens the later stretches. [Read](https://consequence.net/2023/04/cocaine-bear-review-elizabeth-banks-keri-russell/) - **Den of Geek**, David Crow (2.5/5): The critic finds the film sedate and diluted despite the wild concept, with pacing issues and unengaging human characters diluting the fun of the bear's rampage. Occasional inventive set pieces like the ambulance chase stand out, but overall it is called a bad trip. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/cocaine-bear-review-pure-concept/) - **The Ringer**, Adam Nayman (30/100, inferred): The critic deems the movie a frustrating, grueling experience that is sloppy and misanthropic, failing to live up to its perfect title and trailer hype. It singles out a few enjoyably bad-taste moments and Alden Ehrenreich's performance for limited praise while complaining about the cynical tone and lack of genuine affection for its genre tropes. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2023/02/24/movies/cocaine-bear-movie-review) - **Film Stories**, James Harvey: The film is a goofy, entertaining action-comedy that delivers exactly what its title promises. The screenplay sets up strong comedy and the cast of character actors all bring their A-game to the B-movie premise. [Read](https://filmstories.co.uk/reviews/cocaine-bear-review-grizzly-good-fun/) ## Details - **Director:** Elizabeth Banks - **Director:** Elizabeth Banks - **Writer:** Jimmy Warden - **Cinematography:** John Guleserian - **Editor:** Joel Negron - **Music:** Mark Mothersbaugh - **Production design:** Aaron Haye - **Costume design:** Tiziana Corvisieri - **Producer:** Elizabeth Banks, Max Handelman, Phil Lord - **Cast:** Keri Russell as Sari; Alden Ehrenreich as Eddie; O'Shea Jackson Jr. as Daveed; Ray Liotta as Syd; Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Bob; Brooklynn Prince as Dee Dee; Christian Convery as Henry; Margo Martindale as Ranger Liz - **Runtime:** 1h 35m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 24 February 2023 - **Genres:** Thriller, Comedy, Crime - **Budget:** $32 million - **Box office:** $88 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuWEEKeJLMI ## Where to watch in the US - Peacock: streaming, uhd - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, uhd *Checked 2026-09-10.* Also available in: AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, HU, IE, IN, IT, JP, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Snakes on a Plane* (2006): The other film that is all title; sillier, less bloody, equally unashamed of itself. - *Grizzly* (1976): The original bear slasher, cheaper and grimmer, with no drugs and no jokes. - *Tremors* (1990), Fi1m 82: Small-town creature comedy that keeps its people likeable while the ground swallows them. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/tremors.md) - *Black Sheep* (2006): Zombie sheep in New Zealand; the same one joke, told with far more glee. - *Grabbers* (2012): Irish villagers learn the monsters hate alcohol; the drunk creature film with some heart. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/cocaine-bear