Rotten Tomatoes
Suggestions will appear as you start typing. Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Short Eyes

Play trailer Poster for Short Eyes R 1978 1h 44m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
92% Tomatometer 12 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Convicts try to stay alive in a brutal prison where certain fellow inmates violate nearly every known rule of decency.

Where to Watch

Short Eyes

Critics Reviews

View More
David Ansen Newsweek Mar 7, 2023
The flaws ultimately don't matter. Like the prison jargon, the sense of which is always clear even if the words are incomprehensible, Piñero's angry eloquence -- and his sudden flashes of tenderness -- burn away one's esthetic qualms. Go to Full Review Pauline Kael The New Yorker May 26, 2021
With sensational material like this, disorganization is preferable to a slick, false structure. And parts of this movie seem as good as they could possibly be. Go to Full Review Vincent Canby New York Times May 9, 2005
4/5
Remarkably effective film making. Go to Full Review Brian Orndorf Blu-ray.com Sep 21, 2020
B
The viewer walks away with a deep understanding of motivation, which helps "Short Eyes" through clichés it periodically encounters. Go to Full Review Rob Gonsalves Rob's Movie Vault Apr 9, 2007
A
A brutal, compelling slice of prison life, popularly described as "raw and powerful." Go to Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Jul 18, 2005
3/5
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
delysid d @RT67044741 Apr 1, 2019 this is like the holy grail for all prison movies. the TV show Oz as well has strong similarities to this. but this movie is miles above that HBO sludge. the scene where they finally decide to kill the pedophile is intense! i like watching prison life from a safe distance See more Jul 19, 2015 A bit disturbing (even for a prison flick) See more May 29, 2014 Slightly stagy adaptation still packs quite a wallop. See more Oct 27, 2012 Prisoners roll out the welcome mat for a new child molester inmate. More memorable than most prison dramas for the brutal treatment of the new guy. I learned that short eyes is prison slang for a child molester. See more Oct 6, 2012 Thirty-five years on, this story still hold great relevance. One of the more thought provoking films I've seen in awhile. See more Aug 3, 2012 Prisoners roll out the welcome mat for a new child molester inmate. More memorable than most prison dramas for the brutal treatment of the new guy. I learned that short eyes is prison slang for a child molester. See more Read all reviews
Short Eyes

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING

Cast & Crew

View All

Robert M. Young

Director

Bruce Davison

Clark Davis

José Pérez

Juan

Nathan George

Ice

Tito Goya

Cupcakes

Don Blakely

El Raheem

More Like This

View All
The Day of the Locust 63% 75% The Day of the Locust Watchlist Mikey and Nicky 88% 79% Mikey and Nicky Watchlist Pretty Baby 70% 58% Pretty Baby Watchlist American Gigolo 73% 50% American Gigolo Watchlist Daniel 43% 52% Daniel Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All

Short Eyes

Short Eyes (1978) Short Eyes (1978) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Convicts try to stay alive in a brutal prison where certain fellow inmates violate nearly every known rule of decency.
Director
Robert M. Young
Producer
Robert M. Young, Lewis Harris
Production Co
Paramount Pictures
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
May 3, 2017
Runtime
1h 44m
Join The Newsletter Join The Newsletter Cookie Settings