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Poster for Holy Smoke

Holy Smoke

He had only one thing on his mind... but so did she!

1999 · 1h 55m · R Comedy, Drama
Directed by Jane Campion

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Overview

While on a journey of discovery in exotic India, beautiful young Ruth Barron falls under the influence of a charismatic religious guru. Her desperate parents then hire PJ Waters, a macho cult de-programmer who confronts Ruth in a remote desert hideaway. But PJ quickly learns that he's met his match in the sexy, intelligent and iron-willed Ruth.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
45%
Tomatometer
Rotten

All sorts of questions go unanswered, and there's little of the density found in Campion's early work; this is mainly smoke, not fire.

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Fresh

Original in every sense, this often difficult film about family, relationships, sexual politics, spiritual questing, faith and obsession further explores the director's abiding fascinations in excitingly unconventional terms.

David Rooney, Variety
Fresh

Ms. Winslet is, by contrast, champagne and caviar for moviegoing grown-ups with good taste.

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer
Fresh

It's brave, adventurous, refreshingly frank -- qualities also marking the performances, particularly those of the leads.

Derek Adams, Time Out
Fresh

At once hilarious and serious, cruel and tender, and bristling with vitality, Holy Smoke is the right movie for the millennium, envisioning new possibilities in the way people view and relate to one another.

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

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