Constantine (2005)

Movie · 2005 · Fantasy, Action, Horror · 2h 1m · R · English

Curator score: 3.3/10 (815K ratings)

Hell wants him. Heaven won't take him. Earth needs him.

Overview

John Constantine has literally been to Hell and back. When he teams up with a policewoman to solve the mysterious suicide of her twin sister, their investigation takes them through the world of demons and angels that exists beneath the landscape of contemporary Los Angeles.

Ratings

Director

Francis Lawrence

Production

Village Roadshow Pictures, Lonely Film Productions, The Donners' Company, Batfilm Productions, Weed Road Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures

Cast

Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Djimon Hounsou, Max Baker, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Gavin Rossdale, Tilda Swinton, Peter Stormare, Jesse Ramirez, José Zúñiga, April Grace, Larry Cedar, Francis Guinan, Suzanne Whang, Jhoanna Trias, Alice Lo, Nicholas Downs, Tanoai Reed, Quinn Buniel

Where to watch

Max

Curator Review

Verdict

A slick, moody supernatural action-horror with a strong visual identity, memorable supporting turns, and a pulpy occult-investigation structure. It’s uneven in places, but the atmosphere, production design, and deadpan lead performance make it an easy recommendation for genre fans.

Best for

  • fans of dark fantasy and demonology
  • viewers who like stylish early-2000s action-horror
  • people who enjoy cynical antiheroes
  • audiences drawn to occult mystery and urban supernatural worlds

Skip if

  • you want a faithful adaptation of the comics
  • you dislike campy or melodramatic supernatural lore
  • you prefer tightly plotted horror over vibe and spectacle
  • you’re not into grim, nicotine-stained action movies

Overview

Constantine is one of those studio genre films that survives on mood as much as plot. It builds a convincing underworld beneath Los Angeles, full of smoke, relics, exorcisms, and morally compromised angels and demons, and it commits to the bit with real visual confidence. The story is familiar occult-noir material, but the film’s texture gives it personality.

Worth noting

Keanu Reeves plays John Constantine as a weary, self-destructive exorcist with a dry, almost detached intensity that fits the movie’s blunt, fatalistic tone. The supporting cast does a lot of heavy lifting too, especially the more theatrical supernatural figures, which help the film feel bigger and stranger than its basic mystery setup.

Bottom line

It’s not a perfect movie: the mythology can get clunky, and some of the human drama is thinner than the imagery around it. But as a piece of dark, comic-book-adjacent genre filmmaking, it’s effective, rewatchable, and often cooler than it has any right to be.

Top Letterboxd reviews

pilot (5★) · 5221 likes

ten stars for tilda as a non-binary angel

Erik 🎼 (4★) · 4160 likes

Me & the bad bitch I pulled by killing myself

David Sims (4.5★) · 3143 likes

what if we kissed 😳😳 in papa midnite's club

dani✨ (3★) · 2787 likes

when he flipped off lucifer as he went to heaven. Iconic™

Jordan Beaumont Anderson (4★) · 2696 likes

Makes the following sexy choices: - Tilda in her androgynous form. - Keanu says a lot of Latin. - Rachel Weisz is wet for 90% of the runtime. - Djimon Honsou exists. - Shia LaBeouf dies.

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Topics

supernatural action, occult noir, dark fantasy, horror thriller, urban gothic, antihero, demonic mythology, 2000s genre cinema, stylized visuals, apocalyptic mood

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