--- title: "Metropolis" year: 1927 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/metropolis" fi1m_id: "metropolis" imdb_id: "tt0017136" tmdb_id: 19 wikidata_id: "Q151599" fi1m_score: 87 critics_score: 70 critics_reviews: 16 published: "2026-09-15" updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:01.330830+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." --- # Metropolis (1927) Directed by Fritz Lang · 2h 28m · MPA NR · Drama, Science Fiction ## Identity Metropolis - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/metropolis - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** metropolis - **IMDb ID:** tt0017136 - **TMDB ID:** 19 - **Wikidata ID:** Q151599 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017136/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/19, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q151599 **Fi1m score: 87** · Critics 70 from 16 reviews *In a sentence:* A magnificent city to look at, provided nobody asks us to work there > Fritz Lang’s *Metropolis* is a thrilling, troubling vision of a future city. We recommend it for its scale and visual precision, while finding its proposed cure for class conflict much too easy. ## Synopsis In *Metropolis*, the people who run a future city and those who work for them are divided by power and privilege. As conflict grows, the search for someone who can bring the two sides together becomes entangled with technology, desire and deception. Gustav Fröhlich plays Freder Fredersen, Brigitte Helm plays Maria, Alfred Abel is Joh Fredersen and Rudolf Klein-Rogge is Rotwang. Fritz Lang’s science-fiction drama places their lives within a struggle over labour, authority and the city’s future. Its guiding idea proposes a mediator between those who give the orders and those who carry them out. ## Review *Metropolis* is worth its 148 minutes, though we would occasionally like to interrupt the lecture. Fritz Lang approaches science fiction with the certainty that a city can tell us how its inhabitants treat one another. Industry, wealth and human suffering belong in the same picture, and he insists on making us look at all three. The size of the undertaking matters because it makes exploitation feel like something a whole society has agreed to organise. The city gives that society a frightening solidity: the buildings look as if their owners expect to remain in charge indefinitely. Cinematographers Karl Freund, Günther Rittau and Walter Ruttmann keep the city’s hard outlines legible amid the visual bustle. We felt oppressed by the city before we had much investment in anyone living there. The sheer scale of the structures did it; people seem to occupy whatever space the buildings have left for them. Gustav Fröhlich makes Freder Fredersen so earnest that we occasionally want him to sit down. His broad gestures suit a film that expects its people to express their convictions with their whole bodies. Alfred Abel gives Joh Fredersen a more controlled presence, while Rudolf Klein-Rogge’s Rotwang readily accommodates the film’s appetite for exaggeration. Brigitte Helm gives Maria a stillness that can hold our attention against all that scenery. Her restraint is welcome when so much else is demanding that we look at it. Lang, also credited as editor, makes the spectacle work through rhythm as much as size. He allows the images to establish their force, then presses on until the accumulation becomes oppressive. Gottfried Huppertz’s music supplies urgency and a sense of ceremony, fitting the film’s habit of treating industrial conflict as a Biblical trial. The combination can be stirring, although there are passages when the visual insistence and musical emphasis seem to be making the same point twice. The difficulty is what Thea von Harbou and Lang’s screenplay wants us to accept about power. Its governing proposition is that the heart must mediate between the hands and the brain. That makes the conflict immediately understandable, but it also makes workers and bosses sound like parts of a body that simply need help getting along. We are asked to place considerable faith in understanding, without being given much reason to think that understanding changes who gives the orders. The film’s own depiction of exploitation makes that faith difficult to share. Its influence on later science-fiction cities is easy to understand. Lang gives other filmmakers a way to make hierarchy visible before anybody has explained the rules. There is considerably more here than a collection of images for subsequent films to borrow, though: technological fascination, class anger and religious longing all compete for our attention. The mixture can feel excessive, but it keeps the city strange and unsettling even when its architecture has become familiar through imitation. We would not defend every broad gesture or every renewed statement of the message. Some stretches feel longer than they need to, and the moral instruction grows wearing. Yet we kept finding something in the images worth attending to, even when the screenplay had exhausted our agreement. Choose an evening when nobody is in a hurry. *Fi1m score 87, published 15 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics call it one of the great visual achievements of silent cinema, and the praise clusters where you would expect: the city, the machines, the crowds. Otto Hunte’s Art Deco sets come in for particular mention, and reviewers of the 2010 restoration argue that the recovered footage does more than add length. Several say the plot is coherent for the first time in decades, with supporting characters filled out and the film’s narrative drive made visible. Eleven of sixteen reviews are positive. The reservations are about the story and the acting. The two notices from the film’s first release admire the spectacle and dismiss the scenario as manufactured and soulless, and Total Film, writing after the restoration, still finds the plot puerile. The Times and The AV Club sit in the middle, impressed by the imagery but distracted by the melodramatic performances. The spread is wide, but the dissent runs one way: nobody disputes what it looks like. ## Straight answers **Is Metropolis worth watching?** *Metropolis* is worth watching for anyone who can give an unhurried evening to a silent film of 148 minutes, and we scored it 87. Fritz Lang's future city is frightening in its solidity, and Brigitte Helm's stillness as Maria holds the eye against all that scenery. The screenplay's cure for class conflict is far too easy, and the moral instruction grows wearing. **How long is Metropolis, and what is it rated?** *Metropolis* runs 2h 28m and is rated NR by the MPA in the US. It is a drama and science fiction film. **Where can I watch Metropolis in the US?** *Metropolis* is streaming on The Roku Channel and Tubi in the US. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How does Metropolis compare to Modern Times?** *Metropolis* and [*Modern Times*](https://film.one/film/modern-times) both put industrial labour on screen, but Lang treats it as a Biblical trial and Chaplin as a joke with a cruel edge. Lang's film is the larger and more oppressive; Chaplin's is the funnier and the more humane, though its story wanders. Choose Lang for scale, Chaplin for warmth. **Is Metropolis based on a true story or a book?** *Metropolis* is based on a novel by Thea von Harbou, who also wrote the screenplay with Fritz Lang; it is not a true story. Its governing idea, that the heart must mediate between the hands and the brain, comes through plainly on screen. Knowing the book is not necessary, since the film states its message often enough for anyone. **What should I watch after Metropolis?** After *Metropolis*, try [*Modern Times*](https://film.one/film/modern-times) (1936, Fi1m 88): Chaplin makes industrial efficiency look absurd, then lets its human cost register. Then [*Playtime*](https://film.one/film/playtime) (1967, Fi1m 88): Another city whose impressive architecture proves poorly suited to the people using it; and [*Blade Runner*](https://film.one/film/blade-runner) (1982, Fi1m 85): A future city’s architecture makes exploitation visible before the story explains it. ### Reviews we read (16) - **Time Out**, Ben Walters (5/5): The restored version of Lang’s epic modern fable is a triumph, with added material amplifying its strengths so the narrative finally matches the ambitious idealism, production design and special effects. It fuses modernism and expressionism, art deco and Biblical spectacle in a mammoth marvel. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/metropolis-1) - **Empire**, Kim Newman (90/100, inferred): The restored version of Fritz Lang’s 1927 sci-fi classic restores plot material that makes the story coherent for the first time in decades and adds exciting action beats. It remains one of cinema’s most visually amazing films. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/metropolis-3-review/) - **Evening Standard** (90/100, inferred): Twenty-five minutes of lost footage make new sense of Lang’s masterpiece, resulting in a visually inventive, erotic and psychologically subterranean socialist-Christian fable that provides cinema’s definitive take on the future imperfect. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/metropolis-is-a-work-of-genius-7421549.html) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kevin Thomas (90/100, inferred): The restored version stands revealed as a film that is about more than its celebrated science fiction look; it is one of the most propulsive of silent films, powered by a torrent of narrative energy. To see the film as the director intended greatly enhances the reputation of a film already considered one of the icons of the silent era. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-may-14-la-et-metropolis-20100514-story.html) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (90/100, inferred): The film is a visually exhilarating nightmare whose plot defies logic but whose torrent of images creates a powerful, hallucinatory experience. Its visionary power fixed the image of a futuristic city as a hell of scientific progress and human despair, influencing countless later films. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-metropolis-1927) - **Film Comment**, Chris Fujiwara (85/100, inferred): The critic celebrates the 2010 restoration of the nearly complete print as finally allowing Lang’s full vision to emerge after decades of mutilation. It praises the added footage for enhancing visual density, clarifying plotlines and character arcs (especially supporting roles), and revealing the film’s ambitious structure and rhythmic power. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/a-tale-of-two-cities-metropolis-restored/) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (80/100, inferred): The restored version of Fritz Lang's 1927 sci-fi epic is one of the biggest, strangest and maddest films in cinema history. It remains eternally prescient in its depiction of class conflict, technology fetishisation and the search for a mediator between bosses and workers. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/sep/09/metropolis-restored-film-review) - **Slant Magazine**, Simon Abrams (70/100, inferred): Lang’s film is a monumental achievement about monumental egos. The recent discovery of 25 minutes of lost footage expands the scope of the discursive script and further establishes the film’s tendency to paint in the broadest of strokes. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/metropolis/) - **The New Yorker** (70/100, inferred): The restoration of Fritz Lang’s 1927 dystopian thriller adds expressive detail and rhythmic grandeur to its iconic imagery of oppressive technology and subtle plot twists. Lang focuses on the colossal contrivances of megalomania and precise machinations without much camera movement. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/metropolis) - **The AV Club**, Mike D'Angelo (50/100, inferred): A key factory scene in the 1927 classic showcases remarkable set design and visual splendor that evokes awestruck wonder. The overly emphatic silent-era acting style, especially the hero’s gestural performance, distracts from the imagery and highlights the bombast typical of the era. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/metropolis-1798218770) - **The Times**, Cosmo Landesman (3 stars): The restored print of Fritz Lang’s 1927 film shows why it influenced countless science-fiction movies with its robots and cityscapes. The Expressionist imagery remains impressive, but the plot is ludicrous and the acting old-fashioned. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/rest-of-the-week-s-films-w5p2vwsmxhc) - **The New York Times** (30/100, inferred): It is a technical marvel with feet of clay, a picture as soulless as the manufactured woman of its story, though its scenes bristle with cinematic imagination and astounding stage settings. The narrative is unconvincing and lacks suspense, but the production stands alone as a remarkable achievement. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1927/03/07/archives/a-technical-marvel.html) - **Total Film**, Philip Kemp (30/100, inferred): The discovery of lost footage clarifies plot points and allows a full recording of the original score, but the film remains a visual masterpiece yoked to a puerile and trite plot. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/metropolis-2-review/) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (30/100, inferred): From a photographic and directorial standpoint it is something entirely original, and the picture looks like the 7 million marks it cost. Too bad that so much really artistic work was wasted on this manufactured story whose scenario gets nowhere. [Read](https://variety.com/1926/film/reviews/metropolis-1200409844/) - **Eye for Film**, Jennie Kermode (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's historical impact on cinema, its spectacular sets and enduring watchability, noting that its stories of love, deception and justice remain relevant. She singles out Otto Hunte's magnificent Art Deco set design for the utopian city for particular praise. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/metropolis-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) - **HeyUGuys**, Craig Skinner (90/100, inferred): The critic hails Fritz Lang’s 1927 film as a true masterpiece, praising its visual storytelling and thematic depth on class conflict and humanity. He particularly singles out the newly restored footage for adding significant character development and emotional complexity, especially to figures like Joh Fredersen and the Thin Man. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/metropolis-the-2010-restoration-review/) ## Details - **Director:** Fritz Lang - **Director:** Fritz Lang - **Screenplay:** Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou - **Novel:** Thea von Harbou - **Cinematography:** Karl Freund, Günther Rittau, Walter Ruttmann - **Editor:** Fritz Lang - **Music:** Gottfried Huppertz, Otto Harzner - **Costume design:** Aenne Willkomm - **Producer:** Erich Pommer - **Cast:** Gustav Fröhlich as Freder Fredersen; Brigitte Helm as Maria / The Machine Man; Alfred Abel as Johann 'Joh' Fredersen; Rudolf Klein-Rogge as C.A. Rotwang; Theodor Loos as Josaphat; Fritz Rasp as The Thin Man; Erwin Biswanger as No. 11811 - Georgy; Heinrich George as Grot - **Runtime:** 2h 28m - **Certificate (MPA):** NR - **Release (the US):** 6 March 1927 - **Genres:** Drama, Science Fiction - **Budget:** $5 million - **Box office:** $1 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAvzaOxDt2c ## Where to watch in the US - The Roku Channel: free, hd - Tubi: free, hd - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd *Checked 2026-09-15.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, DE, DK, EC, FI, GB, IT, MX, NO, NZ, PA, SE, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Modern Times* (1936), Fi1m 88: Chaplin makes industrial efficiency look absurd, then lets its human cost register. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/modern-times.md) - *Playtime* (1967), Fi1m 88: Another city whose impressive architecture proves poorly suited to the people using it. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/playtime.md) - *Blade Runner* (1982), Fi1m 85: A future city’s architecture makes exploitation visible before the story explains it. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/blade-runner.md) - *Akira* (1988), Fi1m 83: Urban unrest and technological ambition become frighteningly physical in this animated city. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/akira.md) - *The City of Lost Children* (1995), Fi1m 78: Elaborate machinery surrounds people whom technological progress has done few favours. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-city-of-lost-children.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/metropolis