Days of Heaven

Play trailer

Days of Heaven

PG

1978

1h 35m

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

94%

Tomatometer

66 Reviews

89%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

A screen poem about life in America at the turn of the century. A story of love and murder told through the voice of a child and expressive images of nature in 1916. A steelworker flees Chicago after a fight with his boss; he takes his little sister and girlfriend with him.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Illuminated by magic hour glow and wistful performances, Days of Heaven is a visual masterpiece that finds eloquent poetry in its spare scenario.

Read Critics Reviews

Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

02/02/2024

5/5

The plague of locusts scene, achieved by dumping thousands of peanut shells from a helicopter and playing the eventual footage backwards, is a knockout.

Go to Full Review

Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

10/19/2023

4/4

Terrence Malick’s ethereal, windswept ballad of love, lust, and nature’s wrath remains an otherworldly triumph.

Go to Full Review

David Sexton

London Evening Standard

09/02/2011

5/5

Simply one of the most ravishing films ever made, luminous in a way that no other movie has been.

Go to Full Review

Julian Singleton

Cinapse

Jul 11

No film of Terrence Malick’s reflects this unbreakable bond between humans and nature more than Days of Heaven.

Go to Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

11/08/2024

7/10

It ends as vaguely as it begins, yet with a distinct sense of satisfaction and unexplainable resoluteness (perhaps these characters’ stories are entirely resolved), as if something profound has unfolded amid the odd plainness of it all.

Go to Full Review

Ray Pride

Newcity

07/04/2024

10/10

Malick’s haunting, painterly variation on Biblical stories in the wheat fields of the Texas panhandle just before the First World War is a voluptuous masterpiece, an equation of ironies. Drawn with myth’s simplicity.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Hector I

4d

Following the brilliant "Badlands," Terrence Malick’s "Days of Heaven" tells the story of Bill and Abby, a couple fleeing Chicago in 1910 to work as seasonal laborers on a Texas wheat farm. The work is harsh, and, unmarried, they must pose as siblings. This deception changes their fate: the dying wealthy landowner falls for Abby and proposes marriage. They play along, hoping for a small paradise. Yet fate, like Greek tragedy, catches up. Love sustains the owner until he discovers the truth, triggering rage and destruction. Bill kills him in self-defense, and they flee, echoing Adam and Eve leaving paradise. Bill dies, leaving Abby alone to return to civilization. The film is contemplative and impressionistic: earth, sky, and labor are almost actors. Inspired by Hopper and enhanced by Saint-Saëns, Malick transforms the ordinary into the mystical, exploring destiny, love, and the divine.

See more

Jakub V

@SirJames Dec 15

Eart, fire, air, water. One of the best movies ever made. It has everything.

See more

Patrick S

@PatrickStruik Dec 13

An absolute masterpiece.

See more

Richard W

@rdwoolf Sep 25

Another long and drawn out story from Terrence Malick. it looks extremely good. But it's hard to get through without becoming distracted. Still, it's 100 times better than Tree of Life.

See more

STEVEN M

Aug 30

Terrance Malik makes everything big on this film. The bridge crossing is iconic.

See more

Blobbo X

@Blobbo Jul 8

Visually is masterpiece, think Blobbo.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Terrence Malick

Director

Richard Gere

Bill

Brooke Adams

Abby

Sam Shepard

The Farmer

Linda Manz

Linda

Robert J. Wilke

The Farm Foreman

Reds

90%

82%

Reds

Watchlist

The Last Tycoon

33%

40%

The Last Tycoon

Watchlist

Lifeguard

53%

71%

Lifeguard

Watchlist

Urban Cowboy

71%

80%

Urban Cowboy

Watchlist

The Great Gatsby

41%

47%

The Great Gatsby

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Great Gatsby

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

A screen poem about life in America at the turn of the century. A story of love and murder told through the voice of a child and expressive images of nature in 1916. A steelworker flees Chicago after a fight with his boss; he takes his little sister and girlfriend with him.

Director: Terrence Malick
Producer: Bert Schneider, Harold Schneider
Screenwriter: Terrence Malick
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount Pictures
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 1, 1978, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 22, 2016
Runtime: 1h 35m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

Most Popular at Home Now