Fear | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

46% Tomatometer 39 Reviews 63% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings

When 16-year-old Nicole Walker (Reese Witherspoon) meets 23-year-old David McCall (Mark Wahlberg) at a Seattle nightclub, she falls in love. David is exciting and charming, and despite the wide age gap, he wins over Nicole's family -- except for her workaholic father, Steven (William Petersen), who's suspicious of David from the start. His concerns are realized when David turns out to be a violent sociopath who sees Nicole as his possession, and her family home a fortress to be invaded.

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Fear

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Critics Consensus

Fear has an appealing young cast, but their efforts aren't enough to consistently distract from an increasingly overblown - and illogical - teen stalker story.

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Critics Reviews

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Fear | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly Rated: B Sep 7, 2011 Full Review Fear | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Susan Wloszczyna USA Today For a while, the cast is appealing enough, and the design is House Beautiful enough, to camouflage the Fatal flaws that turn the second half into an overblown, predictable snicker-fest. Rated: 2/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Fear | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Joey O'Bryan Austin Chronicle Rated: 1/5 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Fear | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Joe Lipsett Anatomy of a Scream Podcast Network Aside from instigating a sexual awakening for a generation thanks to the rollercoaster scene, this murky, messy erotic thriller features a bad boyfriend AND a bad dad, a madonna/whore complex and a very savvy younger brother. Rated: 3.5/5 Feb 11, 2023 Full Review Fear | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Mal Vincent The Virginian-Pilot Fear is so bad that it's good. It provides no scares, but quite a few laughs. Rated: 2/4 Mar 22, 2022 Full Review Fear | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Leigh Paatsch Herald Sun (Australia) If there isn't room for a big, dopey teen thriller in your movie-watching life, then the only thing you have to fear is Fear itself. Rated: 3/5 Jul 14, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Fabrícia F Terrivelmente péssimo. Tinha tudo para ser um ótimo suspense psicológico mas as dificuldades de desenvolvimento do roteiro e a atuação sofrível dos atores, diminuiu consideravelmente a credibilidade da história. Ao menos o que salva é a trilha sonora excelente que serve para contornar o enredo problemático. Rated 2/5 Stars • Rated 2 out of 5 stars 09/22/24 Full Review Tony B Really bad. Underdeveloped characters. Non believable decision making. A good Director could’ve taken the story and cleaned it up and made a decent movie out of it. Rated 1.5/5 Stars • Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 06/08/24 Full Review Jonathan O A pretty decent teen stalker home invasion thriller both Mark and Reese are both great younger performance but there's no backstory of why David goes crazy and why he's doing this however really great killer songs including wild horses. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/16/24 Full Review Crystal S This is a 90s classic! Reese Witherspoon and Mark Wahlberg play a young couple experiencing first love but when one gets possessive and the other leaves things turn deadly. It’s worth watching. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/22/24 Full Review Mary S Loved it!!! Well written, well acted and good story. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/09/24 Full Review Michael S This film was pretty frustrating and had a ton of moments that made no sense. It isn't terrible though. Mark Wahlberg was pretty decent as a villian and Reese Witherspoon was fine so hey, there was some effort there. Rated 2.5/5 Stars • Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 04/01/24 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

James Foley Director Mark Wahlberg David McCall Reese Witherspoon Nicole Walker William Petersen Steve Walker Amy Brenneman Laura Walker Alyssa Milano Margo Masse
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Movie Clips

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Fear

Fear: Official Clip - Wild Roller Coaster Ride Fear: Official Clip - Wild Roller Coaster Ride 2:09 Fear: Official Clip - All the Time in the World Fear: Official Clip - All the Time in the World 2:09 Fear: Official Clip - Forever Hold Your Peace! Fear: Official Clip - Forever Hold Your Peace! 2:13 Fear: Official Clip - David Apologizes Fear: Official Clip - David Apologizes 1:45 Fear: Official Clip - We Have Something That Everybody Wants Fear: Official Clip - We Have Something That Everybody Wants 2:13 Fear: Official Clip - The Security Guard Is Shot Fear: Official Clip - The Security Guard Is Shot 1:18 Fear: Official Clip - Let Me in the F***in' House! Fear: Official Clip - Let Me in the F***in' House! 1:23 Fear: Official Clip - David Kills Gary Fear: Official Clip - David Kills Gary 2:10 Fear: Official Clip - Nicole 4 Eva Fear: Official Clip - Nicole 4 Eva 0:37 Fear: Official Clip - Practically Family Fear: Official Clip - Practically Family 1:46 View more videos

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Fear

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Synopsis When 16-year-old Nicole Walker (Reese Witherspoon) meets 23-year-old David McCall (Mark Wahlberg) at a Seattle nightclub, she falls in love. David is exciting and charming, and despite the wide age gap, he wins over Nicole's family -- except for her workaholic father, Steven (William Petersen), who's suspicious of David from the start. His concerns are realized when David turns out to be a violent sociopath who sees Nicole as his possession, and her family home a fortress to be invaded.

Director
James Foley

Producer
Ric Kidney, Karen Snow

Screenwriter
Christopher Crowe

Distributor
Universal Pictures, MCA/Universal Pictures [us], Universal Home Entertainment

Production Co
Universal Pictures

Rating
R

Genre
Mystery & Thriller

Original Language
English

Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 12, 1996, Original

Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 10, 2015

Box Office (Gross USA)
$20.5M

Runtime
1h 36m

Sound Mix
Surround, Stereo
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