Henry Johnson

2025

Crime / Drama

Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 62% · 37 reviews
IMDb Rating 5.6/10 10 485 485

prison

Plot summary

A quiet man is abruptly arrested without explanation, thrust into a surreal legal nightmare where truth and identity blur. As he fights to assert his innocence, he confronts a chilling system that seems more interested in control than justice.

Director

David Mamet Photo
David Mamet

Top cast

Shia LaBeouf Photo
Shia LaBeouf as Gene
Chris Bauer Photo
Chris Bauer as Mr. Barnes
Dominic Hoffman Photo
Dominic Hoffman
Evan Jonigkeit Photo
Evan Jonigkeit as Henry Johnson
2160p.WEB
52.85 KB
3840*2160
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 25 min
Seeds 19

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by radback 2 / 10

Painfully badly filmed bad theatre

What a bore fest!Is this really the same David Mamet, the one who gaves us House of Games who wrote and directed this terrible script?He lost it completely.Non stop speaking ogwash to hide a non existant intrigue is not the way to go.The film is painfull to watch from the first minutes (the first scene is 20mn long of non stop fast speaking with very bad directing and pace) I was hoping it would get better later but it doesn't.The two next scenes are the same type.After 1 hour who felt like 3, I decided to fast forward (an I'm the patient type).Nothing special at the end.This is just a very basic story excessively badly told.Avoid!!!
Reviewed by danieljfarthing 2 / 10

A dull, plodding, crushing bore for pseudo-intellectual Mamet snobs only

Wordy playwright David Mamet got behind the camera for the first time in a decade+ to direct his own screenplay (adapted from his own play) "Henry Johnson" - a dull & plodder that may delight his pseudo-intellectual snob fans but will sink anyone else into a morose coma. It's basically four conversations the titular Evan Jonigkeit has with Chris Bauer (good), Shia LaBeouf (twice), then Dominic Hoffman. If it ended after Bauer's opener it would make a neat short, but no, it descends on into weighty come forgettable droning monologues to illustrate one man's weakness. It's a crushing bore that'll make most hope Mamet disappears for another decade+. Dreadful.
Reviewed by traviskdutton 1 / 10

A Film About a Puppet, Directed by a Master

It's hard to believe Henry Johnson was written and directed by David Mamet. There are only four scenes and five characters, but that's not the issue. The issue is how it leaves you feeling like you're watching something important without ever being allowed to understand why.There is meaning here-but it's buried so deep under cryptic dialogue and missing context that it becomes exhausting to chase. My wife and I, both fans of layered storytelling, followed the plot. We knew what was happening. But knowing what's happening and feeling anything from it are two different things.The main character, Henry, is a puppet-manipulated by everyone around him, devoid of agency, drifting through the film with no spine and no mind of his own. That might be the point, but it makes for an incredibly frustrating viewing experience. You keep waiting for him to wake up, push back, do something-but he never does.Watching Henry Johnson is like trying to solve a puzzle with half the pieces intentionally missing. Or worse, like having sex with the worst person you've ever met: dull, one-sided, and strangely confident in itself. You suffer through it, holding out for something transformative, and get five seconds at the end that almost-but not quite-redeem the misery.There's a version of this film that could've been brilliant. This isn't it.
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