Movie · 1988 · Drama, History · 2h 9m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 5.3/10 (47.5K ratings)
At the far ends of the earth she found a reason to live, and a cause to fight for.
Overview
The story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.3/10
IMDb: 7.0/10
Letterboxd: 3.49/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 84%
TMDB: 7.0/10
Director
Michael Apted
Production
Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, The Guber-Peters Company
Cast
Sigourney Weaver, Bryan Brown, Julie Harris, John Omirah Miluwi, Iain Cuthbertson, Konstantin Aleksandrov, Waigwa Wachira, Iain Glen, David Lansbury, Maggie O'Neill, Konga Mbandu, Michael J. Reynolds, Gordon Masten
Curator Review
Verdict
A sturdy, old-school prestige biopic anchored by Sigourney Weaver’s fierce, committed performance. It can feel conventional outside the animal footage, but the conservation stakes, emotional intensity, and practical effects make it memorable.
Best for
viewers who like character-driven biopics
animal and conservation stories
80s prestige dramas
performance-first movies
audiences who don’t mind a somewhat traditional structure
Skip if
you want a fast-paced thriller
you dislike earnest biographical dramas
you’re sensitive to animal peril
you prefer nuanced, contemporary political storytelling
Overview
Gorillas in the Mist is the kind of prestige biopic that lives or dies on its lead, and Sigourney Weaver makes it sing. She gives Dian Fossey a mix of steel, grief, obsession, and vulnerability that keeps the film compelling even when the screenplay settles into familiar beats. The mountain gorilla material is genuinely moving, and the film’s sense of place gives it a real physical presence.
Worth noting
It’s not a subtle movie, and some of the human drama can feel blunt or schematic. The romance and expedition politics are less interesting than the conservation mission itself, and the film occasionally leans into broad hero-making. But when it focuses on Fossey’s bond with the gorillas and the escalating danger around her work, it becomes powerful and unsettling.
Bottom line
What lingers most is the combination of compassion and rage: a story about protecting something fragile in a world that is actively destroying it. Even now, the film’s emotional directness and practical craft make it easy to admire, if not always easy to love.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Kylo (4★) · 139 likes
Get off my mountain!
Sigourney just quit her job, left her fiancé, and flew halfway around the world to save some damn apes. As a kid, I loved this movie, even though it left me with some pretty scarring memories. Sigourney is a force, and we could definitely use her energy today in the fight to protect endangered species.
Luke Kane (3.5★) · 114 likes
A violent campaign for peace
Dian Fossey's extreme approach to conservationism was a little nutty, but that doesn't mean she was wrong.
There are still many unknowns about her bizarre and extraordinary life, but this much is clear: she was not a slack-jawed activist. She once described the difference between 'active' and 'theoretical' conservationism, and was openly critical of the latter. As a scientist she lacked objectivity, but her scientific pursuits merely provided the means by which she chose to… more
Jordan Horowitz (4★) · 98 likes
Had absolutely no idea this one would be so moving and powerful and scary and well shot and directed. And Rick Bakers work here is sensational. So good.
dirtylaundri (3★) · 87 likes
Basically all non-ape scenes are dull and the politics are at least somewhat dubious... but if Sigourney Weaver laying her head down on moss and stretching out her hand, in order to make contact with a gorilla isn't cinema, I don't know what is.
alan (4★) · 76 likes
oh to be that baby gorilla and being cared by sigourney weaver