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Apt Pupil
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Apt Pupil (1998) More at IMDbPro »

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Apt Pupil (1998) -- A boy blackmails his neighbour after suspecting him to be a Nazi war criminal.
Apt Pupil (1998) -- A boy blackmails his neighbour after suspecting him to be a Nazi war criminal.

Overview

User Rating:
6.5/10   14,767 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 4% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Bryan Singer
Writers (WGA):
Stephen King (novel)
Brandon Boyce (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Apt Pupil on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
23 October 1998 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Thriller more
Tagline:
If you don't believe in the existence of evil, you've got a lot to learn.
Plot:
A boy blackmails his neighbour after suspecting him to be a Nazi war criminal. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
5 wins & 4 nominations more
User Comments:
Evil Feeding Evil more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Brad Renfro ... Todd Bowden

Ian McKellen ... Kurt Dussander

Joshua Jackson ... Joey
Mickey Cottrell ... Sociology Teacher

Michael Reid MacKay ... Nightmare Victim
Ann Dowd ... Monica Bowden

Bruce Davison ... Richard Bowden

James Karen ... Victor Bowden
Marjorie Lovett ... Agnes Bowden
David Cooley ... Gym Teacher
Blake Anthony Tibbetts ... Teammate

Heather McComb ... Becky Trask
Katherine Malone ... Student
Grace Sinden ... Secretary

David Schwimmer ... Edward French
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Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
L'élève doué (Canada: French title)
Un élève doué - Été de corruption (France)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for scenes of strong violence, language and brief sexuality.
Runtime:
111 min | Argentina:112 min
Country:
USA | Canada | France
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
SDDS (8 channels) | Dolby SR
Certification:
South Korea:15 | Brazil:18 | USA:R (No. 35516) | Canada:14A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Portugal:M/16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-16 | France:-16 | Germany:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Singapore:PG | Iceland:16 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario)
Filming Locations:
Alhambra, California, USA more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
At the start of the film, the voice of the off-screen teacher is actually writer Christopher McQuarrie, a childhood friend of director Bryan Singer and writer Brandon Boyce. more
Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): At the dinner scene the man points at a deer head on the wall and says, "that's a white tail buck". The deer head is in fact a mule deer and not a white tail deer. more
Quotes:
Edward French: You can't do this Todd.
Todd Bowden: You have no idea what I can do.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "State of Play: (#1.4)" (2003) more
Soundtrack:
Tristan Und Isolde more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
16 out of 21 people found the following comment useful:-
Evil Feeding Evil, 26 October 2004
9/10
Author: Daelock from USA

Apt Pupil is a movie of symbolism, it is a movie of metamorphosis, it is not a movie to be brushed off, taken lightly, nor is it to be watched if you want anything even remotely uplifting. It is a thoroughly depressing movie about corruption and the very root of evil. You'll find no plot summary here because you can scroll up slightly and find one. I can tell you Ian McKellen is one of the finest actors in the world and even solidifies that unlikely people like Brad Renfro and David Schwimmer can be incredible actors in their own rights. The movie poses several questions, almost none of which it answers and indeed might not have answers. It is, at it's core, about evil feeding into evil. The boy's evil reawakens the old man's evil, the old man's evil stokes the boy's evil and it continues to crescendo throughout coming to an incredible climax. A fascinating and thoroughly challenging movie.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Apt Pupil (1998)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Any Nazi's Out There (totally anonymous) greenec3-1
i cried . . blondambition1223
The Cat ronpur
A terrible film. jeremy3
I couldn't finish watching it. storey_12
Todd didn't need to be that afraid ekpyrosis-1
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