Movie · 1998 · Fantasy, Drama, Romance · 2h 58m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 3.6/10 (728.6K ratings)
Sooner or later everyone does.
Overview
Bill Parrish has it all - success, wealth and power. Days before his 65th birthday, he receives a visit from a mysterious stranger, Joe Black, who soon reveals himself as Death. In exchange for extra time, Bill agrees to serve as Joe's earthly guide. But will he regret his choice when Joe unexpectedly falls in love with Bill's beautiful daughter Susan?
Ratings
Curator score: 3.6/10
IMDb: 7.2/10
Letterboxd: 3.50/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 48%
Metacritic: 43
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Martin Brest
Production
Universal Pictures, City Light Films
Cast
Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Claire Forlani, Jake Weber, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeffrey Tambor, David S. Howard, Lois Kelly-Miller, Jahnni St. John, Richard Clarke, Marylouise Burke, Diane Kagan, June Squibb, Gene Canfield, Suzanne Hevner, Steve Coats, Madeline Balmaceda, Julie Lund, Kay Gaffney, Anthony Kane
Curator Review
Verdict
A lavish, melancholy romance wrapped around a high-concept fantasy premise, Meet Joe Black is often more fascinating than fully satisfying. Its long runtime and deliberately stately pace can feel indulgent, but the performances, mood, and unusual premise give it a distinct, grown-up sweep.
Best for
Viewers who like romantic dramas with a supernatural or metaphysical hook
Fans of slow-burn, dialogue-heavy prestige filmmaking
People who enjoy star-driven, glossy late-90s studio dramas
Anyone in the mood for a bittersweet, contemplative love story
Skip if
You want a tight, fast-moving plot
You are impatient with very long runtimes and leisurely pacing
You prefer romance that is light, witty, or contemporary
You dislike melodrama or emotionally earnest filmmaking
Overview
Meet Joe Black is one of those big, strange studio movies that feels almost impossible to make now. It takes a high-concept fantasy idea and plays it with old-fashioned seriousness, letting the romance, mortality, and family drama unfold at an unhurried pace. That gives it a unique atmosphere, even when the film seems to be admiring its own elegance a little too much.
Worth noting
The movie lives or dies on mood, and on that level it mostly works. Anthony Hopkins brings warmth and gravity, while Brad Pitt leans into the uncanny awkwardness of a being learning how to inhabit a human body. The central romance has genuine chemistry, though the film is often more compelling as a meditation on time, power, and loss than as a conventional love story.
Bottom line
Its biggest problem is length: the film stretches its material well past the point of necessity, and some scenes feel designed to luxuriate rather than advance. Still, if you respond to romantic melodrama with a metaphysical edge, this is a memorable, oddly hypnotic watch.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Mia (3.5★) · 9695 likes
Joe black: mm yum yum peanut butter
susan: so well spoken, so... seductive
elena 🍋 (5★) · 4741 likes
brad playing a soft version of death who doesn't know how to tie a tie and likes peanut butter is something i didnt know i needed until now
mia lee vicino (3★) · 4095 likes
the only thing stopping this from being my new go-to feel-good movie is that it's 178 minutes long for uhhh no discernible reason
sindhu (2.5★) · 3551 likes
this should’ve been three hours of brad pitt speaking in that ridiculous jamaican accent and eating peanut butter
2015 · Romance, Fantasy, Drama · 1h 52m · PG-13 · Curator 3.0/10 (567.5K ratings) · Where to watch: Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
A near-fit for its romantic fantasy premise and reflections on time, though it is excluded from recommendation here.
Topics
supernatural romance, melodrama, prestige drama, late 90s, bittersweet, slow-burn, metaphysical, family saga, luxurious production design, death personified