Movie · 1990 · Fantasy, Drama, Romance · 1h 45m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 7.6/10 (2.2M ratings)
Innocence is what he knows. Beauty is what she sees.
Overview
A small suburban town receives a visit from a castaway unfinished science experiment named Edward.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.6/10
IMDb: 7.8/10
Letterboxd: 3.90/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
Metacritic: 74
TMDB: 7.7/10
Director
Tim Burton
Production
20th Century Fox, Tim Burton Productions
Cast
Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall, Kathy Baker, Robert Oliveri, Conchata Ferrell, Caroline Aaron, Dick Anthony Williams, O-Lan Jones, Vincent Price, Alan Arkin, Susan Blommaert, Linda Perri, John Davidson, Biff Yeager, Marti Greenberg, Bryan Larkin, John McMahon, Victoria Price
Where to watch
Disney Plus, fuboTV, Freeform
Curator Review
Verdict
A gothic fairy tale with real emotional sweetness: Tim Burton turns a simple outsider romance into a sharp, melancholy satire of suburbia. Its handmade visual style, tender performances, and bittersweet ending make it one of the defining oddball fantasies of the 1990s.
Best for
fans of dark fairy tales and romantic melancholy
viewers who like stylized production design and practical effects
audiences drawn to outsider stories and suburban satire
people who enjoy gentle heartbreak over plot-heavy fantasy
Skip if
you want a straightforward romance with a happy ending
you dislike heightened, whimsical gothic aesthetics
you prefer naturalistic drama over stylized fable
you are not in the mood for bittersweet emotion
Overview
Edward Scissorhands is one of those rare studio fantasies that feels both delicate and slightly damaged, which is exactly why it lasts. Burton frames Edward as a tragic creation dropped into a pastel suburb that is too tidy, too nosy, and too eager to turn difference into spectacle. The result is funny, sad, and quietly cruel in equal measure.
Worth noting
Johnny Depp plays Edward with almost no dialogue and a lot of vulnerability, while Winona Ryder gives the film its romantic pulse. Around them, the neighborhood becomes a miniature society study: gossip, conformity, desire, and fear all circulate through the cul-de-sacs. The movie’s visual contrasts do a lot of the storytelling, from the candy-colored houses to the castle-like isolation of Edward’s home.
Bottom line
What makes it endure is that it never treats Edward as a gimmick. The scissors are a joke, a hazard, and a metaphor, but the film’s real subject is tenderness in a world that doesn’t know what to do with it. It’s whimsical, but the sadness is genuine, and that balance is what gives the film its bite.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Jenno Maes (4★) · 19148 likes
Edward: ✂️ 👁 👄 👁 ✂️
Hot milfs in the area: 🙈😜😘🤩😏
•lily• (5★) · 10656 likes
I too would wreck almost an entire house if Winona Ryder wasn’t going out with me
Will👻 (3.5★) · 8506 likes
Why would they give him the water bed
If he has scissors
For hands
vi (5★) · 7028 likes
why did vincent price think it was okay to give this man scissors for hands
Simon Ramshaw (4.5★) · 6565 likes
"Hold me."
"I can't."
shut up it's just some ice in my eye
1986 · Adventure, Family, Fantasy · 1h 41m · PG · Curator 6.1/10 (643.5K ratings) · Where to watch: Netflix, Hulu, fuboTV, Peacock Premium, Night Flight Plus, Netflix Standard with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus
An imaginative fantasy about isolation, longing, and a strange world that feels handmade and emotionally personal.
2001 · Fantasy, Drama, Mystery · 1h 54m · R · Curator 8.7/10 (3.2M ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, fuboTV, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A moody suburban alienation story with a surreal edge and a strong sense of teenage unease.