---
title: "The Grifters"
year: 1990
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-grifters"
fi1m_id: "the-grifters"
imdb_id: "tt0099703"
tmdb_id: 18129
wikidata_id: "Q304488"
fi1m_score: 84
critics_score: 77
critics_reviews: 10
published: "2026-09-13"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:55.211095+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."
---

# The Grifters (1990)

Directed by Stephen Frears · 1h 50m · MPA R · Crime, Drama

## Identity

The Grifters

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-grifters
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** the-grifters
- **IMDb ID:** tt0099703
- **TMDB ID:** 18129
- **Wikidata ID:** Q304488
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099703/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/18129, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q304488

**Fi1m score: 84** · Critics 77 from 10 reviews

*In a sentence:* Three con artists, and the family connection is somehow the least reassuring part

> Stephen Frears makes a cruel, funny crime drama out of three con artists and their competing loyalties. Anjelica Huston gives it a disturbing emotional force, though John Cusack struggles to hold his own beside her.

## Synopsis

Roy Dillon (John Cusack) is a con artist caught between his mother, Lilly (Anjelica Huston), and his lover, Myra Langtry (Annette Bening). Both women know the business of deceiving people, and each has a claim on Roy’s loyalty. Their relationships mix affection with the habits of people who make a living by gaining someone else’s confidence. As mother, son and lover try to work out what they can trust, their personal lives become entangled with the tricks of their trade. Stephen Frears directs this crime drama, adapted by Donald E. Westlake from Jim Thompson’s novel.

## Review

Stephen Frears’s *The Grifters* is a cruel, funny crime film with a painful family at its centre, and we recommend it with one reservation: the son is less compelling than either woman. Donald E. Westlake adapts Jim Thompson’s novel. The subject is con artists, but Frears is interested in what happens when deceit becomes their ordinary way of dealing with people. The strain comes from watching them apply the same suspicion to lovers and relatives that they bring to their work.

John Cusack plays Roy Dillon, with Anjelica Huston as his mother, Lilly, and Annette Bening as his lover, Myra Langtry. All three belong to the same crooked trade, so nobody can quite enjoy the comfort of believing themselves the cleverest person present. Westlake gives their exchanges enough bite to make the distrust funny. Frears keeps the family connection in view, which means that a suggestion of concern can trouble us as much as an obvious attempt to take advantage.

Huston is the strongest reason to stay with them. She makes Lilly’s concern for Roy feel sincere even while she is trying to control him, and we found that upsetting. The mother’s ability to read people has not taught her how to leave her son alone. Huston makes the need to survive persuasive even when the behaviour it produces is ugly. We keep watching for some small assurance that Lilly can stop treating someone she loves as another person to be managed.

Bening gives Myra an entertaining confidence, though she sometimes makes the danger too easy to spot. Cusack is less convincing when Roy needs to seem capable of holding his own with either woman. His relative softness makes sense within the family, but it also leaves passages in which we are waiting for Huston to regain our attention. Roy remains the character we understand least, despite his position between the two women.

Oliver Stapleton’s cinematography gives the film a recognisable noir finish without making the nastiness feel safely old-fashioned. Dennis Gassner’s production design supports that crime-film world, although we notice the people far more than their surroundings. That seems the right emphasis for a story whose chief danger is another person’s interest in us. The visual polish makes this company inviting enough for the distrust to take hold.

Mick Audsley’s editing keeps the three-way contest taut, giving us time to consider a possible deception without letting the suspicion become a drag. Elmer Bernstein’s music is less restrained, sometimes pressing the menace harder than these performances require. We prefer the tension when it comes from trying to judge Lilly rather than being reminded that we are watching a thriller. At 110 minutes, though, the film sustains its hold without exhausting our interest in these people.

Con-artist films can make dishonesty look like a skill we might enjoy acquiring. Frears allows that pleasure, then makes it harder to sustain when the same habits govern a mother and son. We do not need to like these people to follow them, but we do need to believe that being related still matters to them, and Huston makes us believe it. Choose it when agreeable company is not the purpose of the evening.

*Fi1m score 84, published 13 September 2026.*

## Straight answers

**Is The Grifters worth watching?**

*The Grifters* is worth watching for anyone who likes a cruel, funny crime drama about people who cannot stop deceiving each other, and we scored it 84. Anjelica Huston's performance as the mother is the main reason to stay, while John Cusack is the weaker of the three leads. Choose it when agreeable company is not the point of the evening.

**How long is The Grifters, and what is it rated?**

*The Grifters* runs 1h 50m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a crime and drama film.

**Where can I watch The Grifters in the US?**

*The Grifters* is available to rent from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is The Grifters, and is it suitable for children?**

*The Grifters* carries a UK 15 certificate, so it is not suitable for children and is a poor choice for younger teenagers. The nastiness is mostly between people who exploit each other rather than in constant violence, though the film is unsettling in the way a mother treats her son as someone to be managed. Adults who dislike watching cruelty at close quarters may find it hard going.

**Is The Grifters based on a true story or a book?**

*The Grifters* is based on Jim Thompson's novel of the same name, adapted for the screen by Donald E. Westlake; it is not a true story. The film keeps Thompson's three con artists and their tangled loyalties, and Westlake's script gives their exchanges real bite. You do not need to have read the book to follow it.

### Reviews we read (10)

- **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's authentic film noir spirit and the powerful performances, especially Anjelica Huston's as the mother and Annette Bening's as the dangerous lover. He highlights how the story of con artists seducing one another builds to a shocking, inevitable conclusion that exposes the characters' deep-seated patterns of trust and betrayal. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-grifters-1991)
- **Slant Magazine**, Derek Smith (85/100, inferred): The review calls the film one of the queasiest, most nihilistic crime thrillers, emphasizing its palpable desperation, moral rot, and psychosexual despair among the central grifters. It notes the fatalism and soul-sucking nature of life on the grift while praising the new 4K restoration. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/the-grifters-4k-uhd-blu-ray-review-stephen-frears/)
- **The New York Times**, Janet Maslin (85/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a taut, tough and funny hard-boiled melodrama that becomes sorrowful at the end, crediting Stephen Frears with a smashing variation on classic Hollywood crime stories. She singles out the gripping dynamics among the unholy trinity of mother, son and lover as they con one another. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/05/movies/review-film-an-unholy-trinity-who-re-up-to-no-good.html)
- **Empire**, Ian Nathan (80/100, inferred): The film is a gripping neo-noir thriller thanks to its perfectly cast leads. Superb performances by Anjelica Huston, John Cusack and Annette Bening stand out alongside Frears' taut direction of the Jim Thompson adaptation. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/grifters-review/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Sheila Benson (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the film diamond-hard and mesmerizing in its take on Jim Thompson's novel of mother love and the rackets, praising the updated yet pure noir visuals and performances. She singles out Anjelica Huston's ferociously seductive central performance as the motor of the piece and Frears' masterful control of tension. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-05-ca-5434-story.html)
- **The AV Club**, Scott MacDonald (80/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's craftsmanship, stylized performances by Huston, Bening, and others, and especially its bold, unapologetic handling of Oedipal themes between mother and son. The ending is singled out as a legitimate shocker that underscores the characters' ruthlessness. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/what-s-crime-without-passion-even-if-it-involves-a-son-1798240581)
- **The New Yorker**, Pauline Kael (80/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's hardboiled pitilessness drawn from the source novel and Anjelica Huston's powerful, monstrous performance as Lilly, noting how it gives weight to the ruthless amorality and enriches the noir with sexual electricity and tension. They single out Huston's willingness to embody the character fully for praise while observing the direction and script keep things snappy despite minor issues like the score. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1990/11/19/mother-husband-brother)
- **Time Out**, SGr (80/100, inferred): The critic highlights the ruthless survival instincts of the con artists, especially Anjelica Huston's tragic mother character Lily, and praises Donald Westlake's screenplay and Stephen Frears' gripping direction, while noting weaknesses in the younger leads. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-grifters)
- **Variety**, Variety Staff (**): The review describes the adaptation of Jim Thompson's novel about smalltime hustlers as a curiously uneven movie, noting the intriguing subculture but faulting the execution. It singles out John Cusack's underplayed, colorless performance as Roy for complaint while acknowledging the cast and premise. [Read](https://variety.com/1989/film/reviews/the-grifters-1200428211/)
- **Collider**, Rebecca Schriesheim (85/100, inferred): The critic calls The Grifters one of the best and meanest neo-noirs of the 1990s, praising its dark themes of greed, betrayal, and murder. They highlight the complex, unforgettable performances by the lead trio and the film's riveting, heartbreaking payoff. [Read](https://collider.com/grifters-movie-streaming/)

## Details

- **Director:** Stephen Frears
- **Director:** Stephen Frears
- **Screenplay:** Donald E. Westlake
- **Novel:** Jim Thompson
- **Cinematography:** Oliver Stapleton
- **Editor:** Mick Audsley
- **Music:** Elmer Bernstein
- **Production design:** Dennis Gassner
- **Costume design:** Richard Hornung
- **Producer:** Martin Scorsese, Robert A. Harris, Jim Painten
- **Cast:** Anjelica Huston as Lilly Dillon; John Cusack as Roy Dillon; Annette Bening as Myra Langtry; Jan Munroe as Guy in bar; Robert Weems as Racetrack Announcer; Stephen Tobolowsky as Jeweler; Jimmy Noonan as Bartender; Richard Holden as Cop
- **Runtime:** 1h 50m
- **Certificate (MPA):** R
- **Release (the US):** 5 December 1990
- **Genres:** Crime, Drama
- **Box office:** $13 million

## Where to watch in the US

- Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd
- Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $12.99, hd
- Apple TV: buy $12.99, hd

*Checked 2026-09-13.*

Also available in: CA, CH, ES, GB, IE, PL, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 1991: Best Actress (nominated); Best Director (nominated); Best Supporting Actress (nominated); Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *House of Games* (1987): Confidence tricks become a dangerous education in how badly people want to believe.
- *Night and the City* (1950): A London hustler keeps talking, long after sensible people would have run.
- *The American Friend* (1977): Ordinary worries make a man dangerously useful to people who kill for money.
- *The Last Seduction* (1994), Fi1m 81: A calculating woman finds men remarkably willing to mistake appetite for affection. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-last-seduction.md)
- *The Swindle* (1997): A French con-artist partnership brings sharper comedy to the hazards of trusting colleagues.

---
© 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/the-grifters