Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

Play trailer

2:21

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

R

2006

2h 25m

Mystery & Thriller

History

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

59%

Tomatometer

131 Reviews

74%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

With his incredible talent for discerning scents, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is one of 18th-century France's finest perfumers. He becomes obsessed with capturing an elusive aroma: the scent of young womanhood. His search takes a deadly turn, and when the bodies of 12 young females are found, panic breaks out, with families rushing to lock up their daughters.

Watch on Fandango

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Perfume is what you'd expect from a Tom Twyker-directed movie glamorizing a serial killer: a kinetic visual feast, with a dark antihero that's impossible to feel sympathy for.

Read Critics Reviews

Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

11/21/2007

B+

[Its] off-the-charts screwiness obscures virtually all shortcomings.

Go to Full Review

Carrie Rickey

Philadelphia Inquirer

01/11/2007

2/4

Tykwer loses his cinematic grip when he tries to blend murder and piety. In his hands, the two don't emulsify.

Go to Full Review

Rex Reed

Observer

01/10/2007

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is another nauseous example of style over content: a toxic tale of serial homicide set in 18th-century France that creeps you out faster than it makes you think.

Go to Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Feb 22

2/4

...a wildly overlong misfire that contains few agreeable attributes.

Go to Full Review

Tim Brayton

Alternate Ending

08/13/2024

3.5/5

A movie that is much, much more nuts than it lets on.

Go to Full Review

Tom Cassidy

Common Sense Media

04/12/2023

2/5

The unsettling horror plot with a one-note villain -- Whishaw's Grenouille is on a murderous pursuit to try and recapture the smell of his first murder victim -- is perfect for a 45-minute episode of a show like The X-Files.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Sara S

@RT78582998 Jul 7

Surreal beauty, heartbreaking irredeemability, and realistic social outcomes.

See more

Ed T

@RT25263784 Apr 26

Like all historical fiction this movie asks the audience to suspend disbelief. This movie begs to invalidate reality entirely. If you can ignore half the cast’s terrible acting (especially Hoffman’s who clearly took on the role to renovate his kitchen) and you turn it off about 10 minutes before the end you might come out thinking it’s a decent film. Not great, mind you. But good. But again that’s asking the audience too much. This is the quintessential example of a movie that could’ve been made okay—even good—with clever editing, IF it hadn’t been ruined by its third act. Nay, not ruined. Completely obliterated. Just like my dreams.

See more

Gi S

@Gistevenn Apr 16

One of the stupidest movies i've ever seen in my life.

See more

John W.

@wilksy Feb 26

It is solid and well done until the final portion of the film and then it gets silly and pretentious (including a very odd orgy scene)

See more

A. L. T

@MaxieP Nov 29

What a waste of great talent (Ben Whishaw, Alan Rickman, Dustin Hoffman) on what may be the dumbest, most pretentious movie I've ever seen. Skip it!

See more

Paul D.

@pdecirce Nov 18

Perfume is a horror film in many ways, and the horror is the realization that our "hero" is horribly lost in his obsession. It's a period piece in France about a young man in search of controlling the power of smell. It's fairly graphic with some hard to watch scenes, but beautifully filmed, excellent script and an engaging original concept. Fine acting and set design make this gritty world easy to be lost in. Well worth a watch.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Tom Tykwer

Director

Ben Whishaw

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille

Dustin Hoffman

Guiseppe Baldini

Alan Rickman

Antoine

Rachel Hurd-Wood

Laure Richis

John Hurt

Narrator

View more videos

The Lives of Others

92%

96%

The Lives of Others

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Lives of Others

Lizzie

66%

47%

Lizzie

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Lizzie

The People vs. Fritz Bauer

85%

78%

The People vs. Fritz Bauer

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The People vs. Fritz Bauer

The Constant Gardener

83%

82%

The Constant Gardener

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer: Trailer 1

2:21

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

With his incredible talent for discerning scents, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is one of 18th-century France's finest perfumers. He becomes obsessed with capturing an elusive aroma: the scent of young womanhood. His search takes a deadly turn, and when the bodies of 12 young females are found, panic breaks out, with families rushing to lock up their daughters.

Director: Tom Tykwer
Producer: Bernd Eichinger, Martin Moszkowicz
Screenwriter: Tom Tykwer, Bernd Eichinger, Andrew Birkin
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Castelao Producciones S.A., Nouvelles Éditions de Films [fr], Constantin Film Produktion
Rating: R (Disturbing Images|Aberrant Behavior|Nudity|Sexuality|Violence)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, History, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 27, 2006, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 22, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.2M
Runtime: 2h 25m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS