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A gold carnival mask rests on a folded red cushion beneath a lit paper Christmas tree. Long shadows stretch across a grand room beside a wet city street.

Christmas-adjacent · 1999

Eyes Wide Shut

44/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 44 ↓
UK certificate 18159 min
Drama · Thriller

Kubrick's last film uses Christmas the way a grand hotel uses a lobby tree: it is in almost every room and…

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Plan this film night ↓Can the kids watch? ↓
Explore this film 11 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

Christmas in good measure.

Two paper elves inspect a miniature grand room with a Christmas tree and gold mask on a red cushion. A warm lamp lights the model and its rainy street window.

A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyChristmas is only the occasion.10/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for most of it.15/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details5 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.8/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: incidentally.5/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionA December regular (25,000+).6/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

22/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

Chilly in tone. Strong threat. An unsettled ending.

How we score →
What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →
Your next film night

Where to watch

United KingdomChecked

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Eyes Wide Shut · Rental and purchase cost extra, separately from membership.

As an Amazon Associate, Cine Claus earns from qualifying purchases. Buying through a link helps pay for the site - it never changes a score.

Streaming changes constantly and we cannot promise it is still right - check the service before you settle in. Streaming availability information provided by Streaming Availability API by Movie of the Night (opens in a new tab). Sky and Rakuten TV data by JustWatch.

The story

About Eyes Wide Shut

In the run-up to Christmas, a well-off doctor and his wife come home from a lavish seasonal party, and her confession of a passing fantasy about another man shakes him badly. He spends a long night drifting through the city from one strange encounter to the next, ending up at a masked gathering in a country mansion where he sees more than he should. The days that follow bring paranoia and an uneasy reckoning for the marriage.

The CineClaus verdict

Kubrick's last film uses Christmas the way a grand hotel uses a lobby tree: it is in almost every room and nobody is there for it. Swap the fairy lights for another season and the plot would barely notice. What stays is a cold, hypnotic study of a marriage under strain, with Cruise and Kidman at their most exposed.

It is long and deliberately stiff, and its admirers would say that is the point. Only suggest it as a date night if the relationship is on solid ground. Anyone wanting cosy should look elsewhere.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

18

Our take: strictly for adults: it is a BBFC 18 for strong sex, with nudity, drug misuse, strong language and a creeping sense of menace throughout.

BBFC advice: Strong sex.

Content advice & accessibility
Where the advice comes from
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
Our age guidance
Editorial, separate from the official 18 certificate, and never looser than it.
Subtitles
Check your chosen service and edition for supported tracks.
The people behind the film

Cast and crew

The faces in front of the camera, and the people who brought the story to life.

Main cast

In billing order
Head and shoulders photograph of Tom Cruise smiling, with swept-back brown hair, in a teal jacket and open-collared white shirt against a dark backdrop.Tom Cruiseas Dr. William Harford
Portrait of Nicole Kidman outdoors with long blonde hair falling across her face, smiling slightly.Nicole Kidmanas Alice Harford
Close photograph of Sydney Pollack, an older man with grey hair and round glasses, wearing a black dinner jacket and bow tie.Sydney Pollackas Victor Ziegler
Marie Richardsonas Marion
Rade Šerbedžijaas Milich
Todd Field in a brimmed hat, glasses and a grey jacket over a white open-collared shirt, photographed at an evening event.Todd Fieldas Nick Nightingale
Vinessa Shawas Domino
Close portrait of Alan Cumming looking down, with slicked-back dark hair, a black shirt and tie and a grey jacket, in low light.Alan Cummingas Desk Clerk

Behind the camera

Directed by
Stanley Kubrick
Original score
Jocelyn Pook
Writing & production credits
Writers
Frederic Raphael
Stanley Kubrick
Photo credits

Portraits via Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence, approved for this page by a person. Sources and full photographer credits:

Tom Cruise · Kevin Paul · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Nicole Kidman · Georges Biard · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Sydney Pollack · Arthur from Westchester County north of NYC, USA, at Arthur@NYCArthur.com · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Todd Field · Elena Ternovaja · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Alan Cumming · gdcgraphics · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Stanley Kubrick · Phillip A. Harrington, an American photographer and staffer for Look magazine between 1949–1971 · Source image (opens in a new tab) · Public domain.

Keep the Christmas feeling

Music & soundtrack

That tune you recognised. That score you loved. Take a little of the film into the rest of your Christmas.

Every track on the soundtrack album, in album order.

Behind the music. Jocelyn Pook composed the score.

About this music list

These are the songs and soundtrack we hold for the film, not a complete cue sheet, and they give no scene timings. Album track lists and durations come from MusicBrainz. Spotify and Apple Music links open the matched recordings; links marked Search open a search on that service. Album covers are each release's own, from the Cover Art Archive, credited under the cover.

soundtrackcollector.com ↗ (opens in a new tab) dazeddigital.com ↗ (opens in a new tab) MusicBrainz ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Step into the story

Filming locations

The real places behind Eyes Wide Shut. Choose one to explore.

Find it on the mapPinewood Studios

© OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in a new tab)

Open larger map ↗ (OpenStreetMap, opens in a new tab)

Map shows the selected place. Drag to explore; use + and − to zoom.

Choose your next scene

Photographs of the real places

There’s more behind the film.
Explore the next place.

Photo credits & location sources

These are photographs of the places, not film stills. Dates vary; photographs do not show current conditions or guarantee access.

Pinewood Studios · otakukart.com (opens in a new tab)

Mentmore Towers · otakukart.com (opens in a new tab)

Luton Hoo · M J Richardson · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab) · otakukart.com (opens in a new tab)

Hamleys, Regent Street · Matt Brown · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab) · otakukart.com (opens in a new tab)

Map pins mark the place, not a camera position or a route. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including any pin positions read from OpenStreetMap.

A little more Eyes Wide Shut

Film facts &
behind the scenes

For the fans who stay after the credits.

Movie magic

New York was built in Buckinghamshire

Though the story is set in Manhattan, the film was shot almost entirely in England. The Greenwich Village streets were rebuilt as an outdoor set at Pinewood, and Kubrick sent a team to measure the real streets and note where the newspaper boxes stood.

Read the story
On your next watchThe street corners and shopfronts, and how convincingly they pass for downtown New York.

Source: thevintagenews.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Movie magic

Christmas lights doing the real lighting work

Kubrick preferred available light to conventional studio lamps, so strings of Christmas tree lights and paper ball lanterns became the glow in many scenes. The festive decoration is the film's lighting design, not just set dressing.

Read the story
On your next watchWarm bulbs glowing in the corner of nearly every interior.

Source: thevintagenews.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

On set

One of the longest shoots on record

Filming ran for roughly 400 days with no break, starting in November 1996, which is widely cited as the longest continuous shoot in film history. Kubrick finished post-production on 1 March 1999 and died six days later, before the film opened.

Read the story

Source: thevintagenews.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

On set

A two-week part that stretched to about eight

Vinessa Shaw was contracted for two weeks of work. Kubrick's perfectionism kept her on set for around six weeks more, a typical example of how his retakes stretched schedules.

Read the story

Source: thevintagenews.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Music & sound

The ritual chant is a priests' recording played in reverse

Jocelyn Pook built the masked ceremony cue from a recording of Romanian Orthodox priests singing, played backwards on a reel-to-reel deck. It first appeared on her 1996 album as a separate piece. Kubrick heard it through his assistant and asked her to adapt it for the film.

Read the story
On your next watchHow the strings lift the reversed voices into something both beautiful and sinister.

Source: dazeddigital.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

And at a glance

The Christmas in it
The story unfolds in the run-up to Christmas in New York, and strings of Christmas tree lights supply much of the film's interior lighting. Exact dates of the festive window are not stated by the sources, so none are given.
Releases and certificates
: In cinemas, rated 18. UK cinema release, passed 18 uncut by the BBFC.
Sources & a note on these facts

Each production story is linked to its source, in our own words. Ending details stay behind a spoiler reveal.

Gifts for film lovers · Eyes Wide Shut

Something for the Eyes Wide Shut fan

Little gifts for someone whose Christmas always includes Eyes Wide Shut.

As an Amazon Associate, Cine Claus earns from qualifying purchases. Buying through a link helps pay for the site - it never changes a score.

For the fan who watches it every Christmas.Sold by the linked retailer
Good to know

Questions about Eyes Wide Shut

Where was Eyes Wide Shut filmed?

Although the story is set in New York, it was shot in England. The New York streets were built on an outdoor set at Pinewood Studios, with Mentmore Towers, Luton Hoo and Hamleys on Regent Street also used.

Who directed and wrote Eyes Wide Shut?

Stanley Kubrick directed it and wrote the screenplay with Frederic Raphael. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman lead the cast.

Who composed the music for Eyes Wide Shut?

Jocelyn Pook composed the score. The soundtrack album is called Eyes Wide Shut: Music from the Motion Picture.

When did Eyes Wide Shut come out in the UK?

It opened in UK cinemas on 10 September 1999 and was passed 18 by the BBFC.

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