The Elephant Man
A true story of courage and human dignity.
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak.Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity.Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick (called John Merrick in the film), a severely deformed man in 19th century London.
- Director
- David Lynch
- Signature
- Craft · Drama · Tension
- Worldwide
- $26M
Who's in it
Cast
The billed ensemble, with character names. Open any performer for their Nutevio filmography.
The Nutevio profile
Movie DNA
How The Elephant Man 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.
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity. Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick (called John Merrick in the film), a severely deformed man in 19th century London.
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
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Why We Recommend It
Why It's Ranked
The Elephant Man appears in 1 Nutevio collection. Here is the argument behind each placement.
- Top 250 Movies of All Time Ranked #232
Placed at #232 by the Nutevio ranking model. An editor's written case is on the way.
The numbers
Box Office & Release
The Elephant Man returned 5.2× its budget worldwide.
- Budget
- $5M
- Opening weekend
- —
- Domestic gross
- —
- International gross
- —
- Worldwide gross
- $26M
- Release date
- Oct 9, 1980
- Runtime
- 2h 4m
- 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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