Release CalendarDVD & Blu-ray ReleasesTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsIn TheatersComing SoonMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysLGBTQ+ Pride MonthSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Love Is Strange

  • 20142014
  • RR
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
13K
YOUR RATING
Alfred Molina and John Lithgow in Love Is Strange (2014)
After Ben and George get married, George is fired from his teaching post, forcing them to stay with friends separately while they sell their place and look for cheaper housing -- a situation that weighs heavily on all involved.
Play trailer2:13
5 Videos
43 Photos
  • Drama
  • Romance
After Ben and George get married, George is fired from his teaching post, forcing them to stay with friends separately while they sell their place and look for cheaper housing -- a situation... Read allAfter Ben and George get married, George is fired from his teaching post, forcing them to stay with friends separately while they sell their place and look for cheaper housing -- a situation that weighs heavily on all involved.After Ben and George get married, George is fired from his teaching post, forcing them to stay with friends separately while they sell their place and look for cheaper housing -- a situation that weighs heavily on all involved.
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
13K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Ira Sachs
  • Writers
    • Ira Sachs
    • Mauricio Zacharias
  • Stars
    • John Lithgow
    • Alfred Molina
    • Marisa Tomei
Top credits
  • Director
    • Ira Sachs
  • Writers
    • Ira Sachs
    • Mauricio Zacharias
  • Stars
    • John Lithgow
    • Alfred Molina
    • Marisa Tomei
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 77User reviews
    • 163Critic reviews
    • 82Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins & 23 nominations

    Videos5

    Theatrical Trailer
    Trailer 2:13
    Theatrical Trailer
    #1
    Trailer 2:11
    #1
    'Love Is Strange' - Secrets of Movie Magic with John Lithgow
    Clip 0:48
    'Love Is Strange' - Secrets of Movie Magic with John Lithgow
    Clip
    Clip 1:05
    Clip
    Clip
    Clip 1:11
    Clip

    Photos43

    Alfred Molina and Christian Coulson in Love Is Strange (2014)
    Marisa Tomei and John Lithgow in Love Is Strange (2014)
    John Lithgow and Charlie Tahan in Love Is Strange (2014)
    John Lithgow, Darren E. Burrows, and Charlie Tahan in Love Is Strange (2014)
    Alfred Molina in Love Is Strange (2014)
    John Lithgow and Charlie Tahan in Love Is Strange (2014)
    Alfred Molina in Love Is Strange (2014)
    John Lithgow in Love Is Strange (2014)
    Alfred Molina and Charlie Tahan in Love Is Strange (2014)
    John Lithgow in Love Is Strange (2014)
    Alfred Molina and John Lithgow in Love Is Strange (2014)
    Alfred Molina in Love Is Strange (2014)

    Top cast

    Edit
    John Lithgow
    John Lithgow
    • Ben Hull
    Alfred Molina
    Alfred Molina
    • George Garea
    Marisa Tomei
    Marisa Tomei
    • Kate Hull
    Charlie Tahan
    Charlie Tahan
    • Joey
    Tatyana Zbirovskaya
    • Zlata
    Olya Zueva
    Olya Zueva
    • Eugenia
    Jason Stuart
    Jason Stuart
    • Officiant
    Darren E. Burrows
    Darren E. Burrows
    • Elliot
    • (as Darren Burrows)
    Harriet Sansom Harris
    Harriet Sansom Harris
    • Honey
    • (as Harriet Harris)
    Cheyenne Jackson
    Cheyenne Jackson
    • Ted
    Manny Perez
    Manny Perez
    • Roberto
    Christina Kirk
    Christina Kirk
    • Mindy
    John Cullum
    John Cullum
    • Father Raymond
    Eric Tabach
    Eric Tabach
    • Vlad
    Tank Burt
    Tank Burt
    • Doreen
    Daphne Gaines
    Daphne Gaines
    • Linda
    Christopher King
    • Lawyer
    Maryann Urbano
    • Social Worker
    • Director
      • Ira Sachs
    • Writers
      • Ira Sachs
      • Mauricio Zacharias
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Little Men
    6.7
    Little Men
    Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show
    6.7
    Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show
    Keep the Lights On
    6.4
    Keep the Lights On
    The Perez Family
    6.0
    The Perez Family
    Frankie
    5.4
    Frankie
    Weirdos
    6.6
    Weirdos
    Forty Shades of Blue
    6.1
    Forty Shades of Blue
    Christodora
    A Fantastic Woman
    7.2
    A Fantastic Woman
    Undertaking Betty
    6.5
    Undertaking Betty
    She Said, She Said
    6.3
    She Said, She Said
    James White
    7.1
    James White

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ben's paintings were done by painter Boris Torres, who is also director Ira Sachs' husband.
    • Goofs
      When George advises the young girl playing a Frédéric Chopin piece on the piano (supposedly without sufficient feeling), that she should let the music take her somewhere, surprise or even overwhelm her, he says that this is as important as "knowing the difference between a half-step and a semitone". Fact is, a half-step IS a semitone; there is no difference at all.
    • Quotes

      George: I believe the world is a better place if people aren't lying.

    • Connections
      Featured in Nostalgia Critic: Does PG Mean Anything Anymore? (2016)
    • Soundtracks
      Berceuse in D-Flat Major, Op. 57
      Written by Frédéric Chopin

      Performed by Idil Biret

      Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.

    User reviews77

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    a brutally honest take on senility and appeals for an authentic mutual esteem
    This Ira Sachs' follow-up of his strained relationship chronicle KEEP THE LIGHTS ON (2012) revolves around a senior gay couple in Manhattan, New York, Ben (Lithgow), an obscure painter and George (Molina), a music teacher in a Catholic school, after gay-marriage has been legalised, they finally tie the knot after 39 years together, their love has been blessed by friends and family, but the segueing repercussions cost George his post due to the obvious prejudice among those religious conservatives, and the unforeseen financial plight forces them to sell the apartment and live with their relatives and friends, yet as none of them have extra rooms for both, so they have to spend the transitional time separately.

    The story unwinds with both encounter difficulties in their provisional homes, Ben is living with his nephew Elliot (Burrows), a photographer, his writer wife Kate (Tomei) and their teenage son Joey (Tahan), his inconvenient intrusion already ruffles Joey's feathers as they have to share a same room with a double bunk, moreover, the co-existence slowly but surely also tests the limitation of Kate's patience. In another side, George becomes a couch-surfer in their friends Ted (Jackson) and Roberto (Perez)'s apartment, however, the unashamed cliché is they are frequent home-party throwers, even when they have a friend sleeping on their couch.

    Their situations are not too rosy, but admirably Sachs doesn't plunge the usual melodrama between them, after being each other's soul-mate and life-partners for such a long time, they reach the mutual coordination of understanding, respect and support, the story itself transcends the gay setting and sublimates into a hymn to universal love which only those very few can actually acquire in reality. Thanks to Lithgow and Molina's unforced but extremely moving performances, which potently fuels the final revelation with utter poignancy, and pretty unusually, in an extraordinary way. Rather than a tearjerker, the film more inclines to be a worshipper of love and respect even when in the time of loss, through a subplot of Joey's own wayward pubertal rebellion, we have the chance to glance at the real problem inside straight people's gay-friendly facade, the fight for equality and against discrimination is a protracted battle and there is no time for slackening.

    I should also name-check Tomei for her brilliant turn as Kate, gallantly runs the full gamut from the one who gifts them an affecting ode about how Ben and George are exemplars of love for her and Elliot, to her final scene of a hysterical flare-up to vent her frustration and dissatisfaction, she is truly amazing.

    Under the pervasion of classical music pieces, LOVE IS STRANGE is alternately heart- warming, heart-touching and heart-rending, Ira Sachs perfects his narrative strategy with more self-control and less on-the-nose intensity, and it turns out to be an unheralded gem not just from the viewpoint of LGBT genre, but a brutally honest take on senility and appeals for an authentic mutual esteem among each and every soul on the earth.
    helpful•8
    3
    • lasttimeisaw
    • May 21, 2015

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 18, 2014 (Greece)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • Greece
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official Twitter
    • Languages
      • English
      • Russian
    • Also known as
      • aşk Başkadır
    • Filming locations
      • New York City, New York, USA
    • Production companies
      • Parts and Labor
      • Faliro House Productions
      • Faliro House Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $2,262,223
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $117,276
      • Aug 24, 2014
    • Gross worldwide
      • $3,057,388
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 34 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Alfred Molina and John Lithgow in Love Is Strange (2014)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Love Is Strange (2014) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    Editors' Picks: What to Watch Now on Netflix
    See the full list
    View image
    Photos
    Hollywood Romances: Our Favorite Couples
    See the full list

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.