Movie · 1985 · History, Romance, Drama · 2h 41m · PG · English
Curator score: 4.5/10 (152.8K ratings)
Based on a true story.
Overview
Tells the life story of Danish author Karen Blixen, who at the beginning of the 20th century moved to Africa to build a new life for herself. The film is based on her 1937 autobiographical novel.
Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Michael Kitchen, Malick Bowens, Michael Gough, Suzanna Hamilton, Rachel Kempson, Graham Crowden, Leslie Phillips, Shane Rimmer, Joseph Thiaka, Stephen Kinyanjui, Mike Bugara, Job Seda, Mohammed Umar, Donal McCann, Kenneth Mason, Tristram Jellinek, Stephen B. Grimes
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A lush, old-school romantic epic with exceptional scenery, strong performances, and genuine sweep, but it can feel overextended and emotionally distant if you’re not in the mood for a stately, leisurely drama.
Best for
Viewers who like prestige period romances
Fans of sweeping location photography and classical Hollywood craftsmanship
Audiences who enjoy slow-burn adult melodrama
People interested in colonial-era historical drama with literary framing
Skip if
You want a fast-moving plot or constant dramatic escalation
You’re allergic to long runtimes and reflective pacing
You prefer romance that feels modern, intimate, or psychologically raw
You’re looking for a historically critical or politically confrontational Africa-set film
Overview
Out of Africa is the kind of prestige epic that lives or dies on your appetite for grandeur. Sydney Pollack stages it with immense confidence: the landscapes are ravishing, the performances are polished, and the film has a classical sense of scale that still feels expensive in the best way. Meryl Streep gives the story its intelligence and poise, while Robert Redford supplies the mythic, almost impossibly polished romantic ideal the movie wants to orbit around.
Worth noting
At the same time, the film is very much of its era in how it treats emotion and history. It often prefers atmosphere, memory, and longing to dramatic momentum, which can make it feel stately to the point of inertia. For some viewers that restraint is elegant; for others it reads as distance, especially given the colonial setting and the film’s tendency to center personal feeling over political complexity.
Bottom line
If you respond to old-fashioned romantic tragedy, impeccable production value, and the pleasures of a big studio epic, there is a lot here to admire. If you need urgency, sharper conflict, or a more self-aware treatment of empire, this will likely feel more impressive than involving.
Top Letterboxd reviews
David Sims (2★) · 1038 likes
I always avoided this film cause it seemed boring. and it is! boring!
Matt Singer (2.5★) · 799 likes
Out of all the Academy Award Best Picture winners I have seen, this is clearly the one that was released in 1985.
Darren Carver-Balsiger (1.5★) · 629 likes
There's some wonderful cinematography in Out of Africa, though that is easily achieved when afforded such beautiful surroundings. Meryl Streep is excellent in the film too, though that is to be expected. Ok cool, now I've finished writing about the all the good things. Everything else sucks.
Out of Africa is not once interesting. It is one of the most boring films I have ever seen. My brain was so lacking in stimulation that I could probably have died midway… more
eely (3★) · 587 likes
the first half of this is VERY dull but then the scene where robert redford gently washes meryl streep’s hair happens and you kind of forget how dull everything else has been?? and THEN there’s a scene where robert redford is standing on a porch with one leg all the way up on the porch railing and he’s wearing these hot safari boots and you start to wonder if this is the best movie you’ve ever seen???
Gui (4★) · 332 likes
Criticisms based on the runtime and the level of boredom are beyond me. This didn't feel long or tedious at all, it is a film of sentiment, a melodrama no doubt, but beautifully crafted and subtly acted out in ways that always had me captivated. It kept a nice balance between the romantic story and bits and pieces of cultural and historic context. In fact, the editing is rather good for a film this long, and the first love scene… more Criticisms based on the runtime and the level of boredom are beyond me. This didn't feel long or tedious at all, it is a film of sentiment, a melodrama no doubt, but beautifully crafted and subtly acted out in ways that always had me captivated. It kept a nice balance between the romantic story and bits and pieces of cultural and historic context. In fact, the editing is rather good for a film this long, and the first love scene… more