--- title: "Mask" year: 1985 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/mask" fi1m_id: "mask" imdb_id: "tt0089560" tmdb_id: 11177 wikidata_id: "Q929647" fi1m_score: 81 critics_score: 78 critics_reviews: 5 published: "2026-10-04T19:21:23.715753+00:00" updated: "2026-10-04T19:21:24.484239+00:00" region: "BE" 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." --- # Mask (1985) Directed by Peter Bogdanovich · 2h 00m · Drama ## Identity Mask - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/mask - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** mask - **IMDb ID:** tt0089560 - **TMDB ID:** 11177 - **Wikidata ID:** Q929647 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089560/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/11177, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q929647 **Fi1m score: 81** · Critics 78 (early) from 5 reviews *In a sentence:* Cher makes maternal concern sound like something nobody sensible would argue with > *Mask* is a warm, affecting drama carried by Cher and Eric Stoltz, who make its mother and son worth spending time with. Peter Bogdanovich sometimes presses for tears after the performances have already earned them. ## Synopsis Sixteen-year-old Rocky Dennis (Eric Stoltz) wants to be like everyone else, while the people around him have told him he never can be. His first day at school puts that wish into practice, bringing the question of acceptance into an ordinary part of growing up. His mother, Rusty Dennis (Cher), is central to his life, with Gar (Sam Elliott) also part of the world around them. Rocky responds to being told he cannot be ordinary by deciding to be better, setting himself a demanding standard before he has finished being a schoolboy. ## Review *Mask* is a good, humane drama, strongest when it allows its people to be more interesting than its lesson. Peter Bogdanovich has a boy who wants to belong and a mother whose importance to him cannot be reduced to encouragement. At sixteen, Rocky Dennis has already been told he cannot be like everyone else; deciding to be better sounds bracing until we consider what that asks of him. The film takes that pressure seriously. We recommend it, with some patience for its occasional insistence on being moving. Eric Stoltz gives Rocky Dennis enough life that we do not spend the film waiting for him to demonstrate a virtue. His performance has a welcome lightness, keeping our sympathy from becoming the only possible response to him. We were moved by his first day at school, because Eric Stoltz makes the wish to be accepted feel so ordinary and the effort so unfair. The scene works without requiring us to congratulate ourselves for caring about him. Cher is just as important, and the relationship between Rusty Dennis and her son is the reason to stay. She makes motherhood feel like work being done by an individual, with a temperament of her own. She can be affectionate without becoming easy company, and the relationship is more convincing for it. Anna Hamilton Phelan’s writing is most persuasive when it allows both people feelings that do not conveniently match. The affection matters because neither performance suggests that loving the other person is simple. László Kovács’s cinematography is well judged in its attention to the actors. We never feel the images competing with Cher or Eric Stoltz, which is the right balance for a drama whose interest rests so heavily on them. That restraint suits Peter Bogdanovich’s handling of the central relationship. When these two have our attention, there is little need for the film to keep pointing out the importance of what they are doing. Barbara Ford’s editing gives the relationship sufficient time to become convincing. The pacing is patient, though at 120 minutes the film has room to make the same emotional appeal more often than it needs to. Dennis Ricotta’s music is less helpful when it adds further encouragement to feel. The actors have already done enough. We would happily lose some of that encouragement and spend the time simply watching them. The weakness is familiar from dramas about young people being treated as different: the wish to defend a character can leave too little room for them to be unremarkable. *Mask* occasionally seems anxious that we might miss its decency. Its sentimentality is not ruinous, but it does make some of the emotion feel prepared for us. Peter Bogdanovich is better when he trusts the interest of the mother and son. Their relationship has enough difficulty and affection to hold our attention without additional persuasion. This is worth an evening for the two central performances and for the care with which the film takes Rocky Dennis seriously. Cher and Eric Stoltz make the demands of loving someone feel particular to these people. We would not choose it for an unsentimental night. Go for the mother and son, and allow for the occasional nudge. *Fi1m score 81, published 4 October 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is Mask worth watching?** *Mask* is worth watching for Cher and Eric Stoltz’s convincing mother-and-son relationship, and we score it 81 out of 100. We recommend it to anyone drawn to warm, character-led drama, with a caveat: the performances earn our sympathy before the music and direction finish asking for it. **How long is Mask, and what is it rated?** *Mask* runs 2h 00m. It is a drama film. **Where can I watch Mask in Belgium?** *Mask* is not on any streaming or rental service in Belgium at the moment. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is Mask, and is it suitable for children?** *Mask* has a UK 12 certificate, making it a choice for viewers aged 12 and over rather than younger children. Its treatment of a teenager’s struggle for acceptance and his demanding relationship with his mother gives it emotional weight; we recommend it as an affecting drama, without treating that certificate as a guarantee against upsetting material. **How does Mask compare to The Elephant Man?** *Mask* is the warmer choice beside [*The Elephant Man*](https://film.one/film/the-elephant-man), which takes a harsher, more unsettling view of how people look at an outsider. We favour *Mask* for its particular attention to mother and son, and *The Elephant Man* for viewers seeking a more troubling drama; both make their central characters matter beyond other people’s pity. **What should I watch after Mask?** After *Mask*, try [*The Elephant Man*](https://film.one/film/the-elephant-man) (1980, Fi1m 84): An outsider’s dignity, with a harsher view of the people doing the looking. Then [*My Life as a Courgette*](https://film.one/film/my-life-as-a-zucchini) (2016, Fi1m 84): Young outsiders find company in an animation that allows sorrow without becoming solemn. ### Reviews we read (5) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (3.5/4): Ebert’s review is positive about the film’s humane approach. It singles out the performances, particularly Cher’s, for praise. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mask-1985) - **Radio Times**, Tom Hutchinson (4/5): The review calls the film an enormously moving and life-affirming experience. It especially praises Cher’s performance and the nuanced portrayal of Rocky and his mother. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-o05xdy/mask/) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (80/100, inferred): The review is warmly positive, emphasizing the film’s vitality and humane portrayal of Rocky’s life. It singles out Eric Stoltz’s life-affirming performance and the vividness of the world around him. [Read](https://variety.com/1984/film/reviews/mask-1200426528/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Sheila Benson (78/100, inferred): Benson finds the film moving and emotionally persuasive, despite occasional sentimentality. She especially praises Eric Stoltz and Cher for their devoted, fully realized performances as son and mother. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-03-07-ca-34713-story.html) - **Time Out**, RR (64/100, inferred): The available text does not establish the review’s overall verdict. It calls the scenes dealing with Rocky the most effective, but the description is cut off. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/mask) ## Details - **Director:** Peter Bogdanovich - **Director:** Peter Bogdanovich - **Writer:** Anna Hamilton Phelan - **Cinematography:** László Kovács - **Editor:** Barbara Ford - **Music:** Dennis Ricotta - **Producer:** Martin Starger - **Cast:** Cher as Rusty Dennis; Sam Elliott as Gar; Eric Stoltz as Rocky Dennis; Estelle Getty as Evelyn; Richard Dysart as Abe; Laura Dern as Diana; Micole Mercurio as Babe; Harry Carey as Red - **Runtime:** 2h 00m - **First release (the US):** 8 March 1985 - **Genres:** Drama - **Budget:** $8 million - **Box office:** $48 million ## Where to watch in Belgium Not streaming, renting or buying in Belgium at the last check. ## Awards - Academy Awards 1986: Best Makeup and Hairstyling (won) ## If you liked this - *A Taste of Honey* (1961): Another mother and child given room to be difficult, funny and loving. - *The Elephant Man* (1980), Fi1m 84: An outsider’s dignity, with a harsher view of the people doing the looking. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-elephant-man.md) - *The Kid with a Bike* (2011): A young person’s need for affection, handled without easy reassurance. - *The Way He Looks* (2014): Teenage independence and attraction take priority over other people’s assumptions about disability. - *My Life as a Courgette* (2016), Fi1m 84: Young outsiders find company in an animation that allows sorrow without becoming solemn. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/my-life-as-a-zucchini.md) --- © 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/mask