Movie · 2009 · Drama, Romance · 1h 40m · R · English
Curator score: 7.7/10 (232K ratings)
Overview
Set in Los Angeles in 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, is the story of a British college professor who dwells on the past and cannot see his future. We follow him through a single day, where a series of events and encounters ultimately lead him to decide if there is a meaning to life after the death of his long time partner, Jim.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.7/10
IMDb: 7.5/10
Letterboxd: 3.90/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
Metacritic: 77
TMDB: 7.3/10
Director
Tom Ford
Production
Fade To Black, Depth of Field, Artina Films, Tom Ford
Cast
Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode, Jon Kortajarena, Paulette Lamori, Ryan Simpkins, Ginnifer Goodwin, Teddy Sears, Paul Butler, Aaron Sanders, Aline Weber, Keri Lynn Pratt, Jenna Gavigan, Alicia Carr, Lee Pace, Adam Shapiro, Marlene Martinez, Ridge Canipe, Elisabeth Harnois
Curator Review
Verdict
A Single Man is a beautifully controlled, emotionally precise grief drama with striking visual design and a quietly devastating lead performance. Its elegance, restraint, and queer melancholy make it especially rewarding for viewers who like character studies that linger on mood as much as plot.
Best for
fans of intimate character studies
viewers drawn to queer cinema and grief narratives
people who appreciate strong visual style and production design
audiences who like restrained, performance-driven dramas
Skip if
you want a plot-heavy or fast-moving story
you prefer emotionally explicit, cathartic melodrama
you dislike stylized visual symbolism
you are looking for a broadly uplifting romance
Overview
A Single Man is less interested in story mechanics than in the texture of grief. Tom Ford turns a single day into a study of memory, loneliness, and the fragile possibility of connection, while Colin Firth gives the film its aching center with a performance of remarkable control and vulnerability.
Worth noting
The film’s visual language is its great signature: color, composition, and costume all work like emotional weather. It can feel almost unbearably polished, but that precision is part of the point, reflecting a man trying to keep his life in order while it quietly falls apart.
Bottom line
What stays with you is the film’s tenderness toward small gestures and passing encounters. It is sad, elegant, and deeply human, with just enough warmth to keep it from becoming pure despair.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Lucy (4★) · 2864 likes
those changes in color saturation... just ruined my life
Wes (4.5★) · 1320 likes
tom ford held my delicate heart in his hands and crushed it to dust and now i will never be whole again
penny lane (5★) · 1277 likes
the hue change when colin firth makes human interaction....... tom ford owns this ass
sawyer (4.5★) · 1051 likes
who up gay & depressed...
san (4★) · 801 likes
people suffering from depression are known to have their visual perspective impacted, such that they may see the world as flat or monochrome with muted colors. it’s brilliant that tom ford uses this fact to engage the audience on a deeper insight in george falconer’s subconscious — presenting him in a dull illustration while often saturating these colors in the presence of hope.