Cape Fear
Sam Bowden has always provided for his family's future. But the past is coming back to haunt them.
Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney.Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist.What do they have in common?14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted.
- Director
- Martin Scorsese
- Signature
- Drama · Tension · Craft
- Worldwide
- $182M
Who's in it
Cast
The billed ensemble, with character names. Open any performer for their Nutevio filmography.
The Nutevio profile
Movie DNA
How Cape Fear actually feels to watch, measured on the twelve traits our editors track across every Nutevio title.
Perfect if you enjoyed
Story overview
What It's About
Spoiler-free. Read the analysis below for the full argument.
Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
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Why We Recommend It
Why It's Ranked
Cape Fear appears in 2 Nutevio collections. Here is the argument behind each placement.
- Best Courtroom Dramas Ranked #20
Placed at #20 by the Nutevio ranking model. An editor's written case is on the way.
- Best Prison Movies Ranked #32
Placed at #32 by the Nutevio ranking model. An editor's written case is on the way.
The numbers
Box Office & Release
Cape Fear returned 5.2× its budget worldwide.
- Budget
- $35M
- Opening weekend
- —
- Domestic gross
- —
- International gross
- —
- Worldwide gross
- $182M
- Release date
- Nov 13, 1991
- Runtime
- 2h 8m
- MPAA rating
- —
- Language
- English
- Country
- United States of America
Figures from the verified production record. Fields we cannot source are left blank rather than estimated.
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