← Back

Primal Fear

“Sooner or later, a man who wears two faces forgets which one is real.”

1996 · 2 h 10 min
Directed by Gregory Hoblit · USA · American Independent Cinema
CrimeDramaThriller

Where to watch in the United States: Stream: fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel · Free: Kanopy, Hoopla · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home. Streaming data from JustWatch via TMDB; availability changes.

Cast

Richard Gere Laura Linney Edward Norton John Mahoney Alfre Woodard Frances McDormand

Plot

Defense attorney Martin Vail takes on jobs for money and prestige rather than any sense of the greater good. His latest case involves an altar boy, accused of brutally murdering the archbishop of Chicago.

Sinekatalog’s take

Primal Fear (1996) is a American crime film directed by Gregory Hoblit. It stars Richard Gere, Laura Linney and Edward Norton. It runs 130 minutes. It is listed here for its festival and awards record.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.

View on Letterboxd ↗

Ratings

IMDb: 7.7 / 10 (300,345 votes)
Rotten Tomatoes: 77%
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.

If you liked this

Picked by director, genre, era and shared cast. Titles only, no spoilers.