—
A Prayer for the Dying
Film
Film2026
The Birthday Party
Directed by Miguel Ángel Jiménez
The late 1970s, somewhere in the Mediterranean: Marcos Timoleon, a tycoon, is throwing a lavish, extravagant birthday party for Sofia on his exclusive private island. The party is a perfect excuse for various people in his life to approach him with their own agendas. From TMDB
66 reactions from 3 sources (Bluesky, Mastodon, TMDB reviews) · newest Oct 6, 2026 · last updated Oct 13, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
—
No Data
Sentiment labels for these sources are still being hand-checked; no score yet.
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluesky * | 5 | 1 | 50 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| TMDB reviews * | 0 | 1 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
What people are saying
A written summary appears once the title has a score.
At a glance
The Birthday Party is a 2026 drama film, directed by Miguel Ángel Jiménez, starring Willem Dafoe, Emma Suárez and Joe Cole.
- 60 people have posted about this film on Bluesky, Mastodon, TMDB reviews
- posts span Aug 7, 2023 to Oct 6, 2026
Assembled from TMDB, Wikidata and Steam fields and our own counts, nothing written by a model. Method
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
66 public posts have mentioned The Birthday Party so far, but it needs 10 opinionated reactions from checked sources before it gets a score. Seen it? Post your take.
Critics, per Wikipedia
The film received mostly negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently has a critics score of 30%, with an average rating of 4.9 out of 10. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian rated the film three out of five stars, calling it "a strong, confident picture that hits its measured stride early on". Amber Wilkinson of Screen Daily called the film a "stylish tale of hedonism and heartbreak". Javier Ocaña of El País decried the salad of names, accents, and presences so much in the vein of 1980s and 1990s euro-puddings [fr], some uplifting by Jordana's beautiful cinematography and some musical moments notwithstanding.
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
The Experts
52%
avg of 1 source
The People
—
audience score
Reactions
60 of 66 · most liked first#AtoZStudioAlbums #MusicChallenge “T” Teenage Snuff Film Rowland S. Howard (The Birthday Party) The title doesn’t do this album justice. m.youtube.com/watch?v=H6Up...
neutral · AI labelView post →THE BIRTHDAY PARTY (2025) - Official Trailer Streaming: June 5, 2026 VOD/Digital (Apple, Amazon, Fandango at Home, etc.) #TheBirthdayParty whentostream.com/willem-dafoe...
neutral · AI labelView post →Red Carpet Rundown: The gownery was on point (meaning eye-popping and sparkly) at the Cannes premiere of THE BIRTHDAY PARTY tomandlorenzo.com/2026/05/cann...
neutral · AI labelView post →After watching The Birthday Party film, and reading the early Nick Cave book, I am now onto Rowland S Howard - great stuff... youtu.be/3M-_vhnUg28?...
positive · AI labelView post →Barry Adamson. 67 yrs old today, born 11 June 1958, grew up Moss Side, Manchester. Musician, film-maker. Original bassist in Magazine and then with Visage, the Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and many others, as well as creating amazing solo work.
neutral · AI labelView post →THE BIRTHDAY PARTY (2025) Streaming: October 8, 2026 Lionsgate+ on Prime Video #TheBirthdayParty whentostream.com/willem-dafoe...
neutral · AI labelView post →OH YES THE BIRTHDAY PARTY great scene with the creepy insect movie #horrorwatch
positive · AI labelView post →Finished Histoires de la nuit, by Laurent Mauvignier. Incredibly tense but brilliantly constructed. Lit fiction in the form of a thriller but where most of the action is inside the protagnists' head, unfolding with slow precision. The Birthday Party in English. Film adaptation is out in September
neutral · AI labelView post →IMO it’s the second best bit of acting in the film (number one is the Birthday Party scene; number three is “I love them more than anything”)
neutral · AI labelView post →Tonight! I’m in Hastings doing a talk about my ‘The Art Of Darkness - The History Of Goth’ book! There will also be a showing of the recent film about The Birthday Party. Last few tickets and details from the link below. wegottickets.com/event/628170/
neutral · AI labelView post →If you like Nick Cave the documentary MUTINY IN HEAVEN: THE BIRTHDAY PARTY is for you. If you don’t like him it’s also for you. Review comes with a partial imagined Nick Cave Venn diagram. www.thecurb.com.au/ian-whites-m...
neutral · AI labelView post →I see that the 1987 Theatre Night version of The Birthday Party is on BBC4 later. I recorded it on betamax when originally transmitted and watched it to death, just as I had done a year or so before when the Friedkin film version was shown on Channel 4. I love both of them.
positive · AI labelView post →The Birthday Party with ‘ Nick The Stripper’. I doubt anybody in this film clip remembers much about it the next day . youtu.be/3WO7_Zn_iKU?...
neutral · AI labelView post →Watched Friedkin's film of THE BIRTHDAY PARTY (1968) over the last couple of nights. A house-bound cranking of 'family' (and intruder) tension, dark humour and intimate conflict, he clearly took a lot from this on into 'THE EXORCIST' later. #amwatching #films #WilliamFriedkin #HaroldPinter #cinema
positive · AI labelView post →Pleasantly surprised to see the Birthday Party documentary among the more expected film choices on the plane. Passed a very enjoyable 90 minutes
positive · AI labelView post →MOVIE REVIEW: New doc tells the history of Australia's greatest sonic butchers, The Birthday Party.
neutral · AI labelView post →And that's a wrap on another season of Film Club at The Pelham Picture House, with "Couples Weekend," "Forge," "Burt," "Carolina Caroline," "The Birthday Party" and "Peter Asher: Everywhere Man." Special thanks to the studios, filmmakers and audiences who made it all possible. See you in the Fall!
neutral · AI labelView post →My review of The Birthday Party (dir. Miguel Àngel Jiménez) is up here: www.theguardian.com/film/2025/au... #locarno #locarno78 #locarno2025
neutral · AI labelView post →My vlog from the Locarno Film Festival @FilmFestLocarno feat. Willem Dafoe in The Birthday Party is up here: youtu.be/YKWnDwDcPSM?... #locarno2025 #locarno2025
neutral · AI labelView post →I love that this VCR I scooped for $12 rewinds the VHS when it finishes playing! I can fall asleep to a movie, and it’s rewound and ejected. Last night, I watched The Crying Game and then, I passed out watching Motorhead: The Birthday Party. Cheap scores! #physicalmedia #vhs #vcr #movies #films
neutral · AI labelView post →Yep, I was there. Most of the audience was dressed up as some sort of character, some from the movie, some not. Those people standing around waiting to get in to the Cheech and Chong show were really shook up at the wall of freaks exiting the theater when the Birthday Party was over.
neutral · AI labelView post →Now watching Mutiny In Heaven : The Birthday Party, 2023
neutral · AI labelView post →Nick Cave has aged like a fine wine over the years, deepening his iconic status as both an unparalleled performer and songwriter. In the electrifying new film Mutiny In Heaven, Nick and his first band, The Birthday Party, offer an unfiltered, intimate, and immersive exploration
neutral · AI labelView post →Now watching Fantastic Fest Film #10: The Birthday Party!
neutral · AI labelView post →Create a Vampire soundtrack for a film seeded with your name: Bela Lugosi's Dead (Bauhaus from the Gotham live set 1999) Release the Bats (The Birthday Party) I Bleed (The Pixies) Ain't No Grave (Johnny Cash) New Dawn Fades (Joy Division) Walk This World (Heather Nova)
neutral · AI labelView post →Heading west for my 13th year at Glasgow Film Festival. Today’s films are The Good Boy & The Birthday Party! #GFF26 #FilmSky
neutral · AI labelView post →I know the place. It is true. Everything we do Corrects the space Between death and me And you. 🎭✒ #HaroldPinter, British playwright, screenwriter, and Nobel Laureate 2005 ("The Birthday Party", "The Homecoming") #DOTD 24 December 2008. #Film #Theatre #Literature
neutral · AI labelView post →Miguel Ángel Jiménez’s film ‘The Birthday Party’ is a captivating and beautiful exploration of the ugly side of human beings.
neutral · AI labelView post →Discovered with his first two films at New Directors in San Sebastian, Spaniard Miguel Ángel Jiménez presents The Birthday Party in the Piazza Grande at #Locarno78. A producer's film, this lush evocation of an abusive tycoon in the 70s lines up clichés and leaves us with a feeling of alcohol abuse.
neutral · AI labelView post →Some news on THE BIRTHDAY PARTY which Shane West serves as an Executive Producer on. variety.com/2025/film/gl...
neutral · AI labelView post →lastly, we love film, art, music, and more (i am a creative director), so expect posts on topics like dumb music videos from the 90's/00's, semiotics, sad Italian neorealism films, Shelley Duvall, The Sopranos, David Lynch, Spock, Zelda, The Birthday Party, Peter Gabriel, Grace Jones, etc.
neutral · AI labelView post →SMILE isn't a great movie, but it does have exactly one scene (the Birthday Party) that is so supremely fucked up and is absolutely hilarious because we realize what's about to happen just moments before it does, and it's *glorious*
neutral · AI labelView post →NZ film release Q: anyone know if there is a NZ release for Ian White's Birthday Party doc MUTINY IN HEAVEN: THE BIRTHDAY PARTY on the horizon??? If so, when/where? Taa. (cc @dillamonster.bsky.social @funeralsandsnakes.net)
neutral · AI labelView post →Release the bats! Mutiny in Heaven: The Birthday Party finds the savage genius of Australia's greatest purveyors of sonic violence. www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/...
neutral · AI labelView post →William Friedkin's second film, an adaptation of the Howard Pinter play THE BIRTHDAY PARTY, is a brutal affair, claims @ungajje.bsky.social. One where the director uses style to make it all the harder to take. buff.ly/44MHcIO
neutral · AI labelView post →Oh. There's a documentary film on The Birthday Party, "Mutiny in Heaven", that's slated for a limited theatrical release in North America.
neutral · AI labelView post →Willem Dafoe stars in THE BIRTHDAY PARTY, streaming exclusively this Thursday October 8th on Lionsgate+ on Prime Video. Watch the trailer here: youtu.be/jsWp6GRyyAw?is… #LionsgatePlus #PrimeVideo #film #movie
neutral · AI labelView post →I did manage to get a movie in the 8 pm slot at Fantastic Fest, a French movie called THE BIRTHDAY PARTY. A very slow burn. Probably too slow, but still pretty good. Will see what I can get in the 11 pm slot.
neutral · AI labelView post →Old man butt cheeks and a pretty view are all The Birthday Party has to offer as a film. Willem Dafoe does what he can, but is surprisingly forgettable here. Sofia’s party ends up being extravagant and fruitless, which is also the perfect definition of the film. https://bit.ly/DafoeParty
negative · AI labelView post →The Birthday Party is now playing in select theaters and is available on demand and on digital. It's beautifully shot, but is otherwise incredibly boring. Even if Willem Dafoe is flashing around his spray tanned butt cheeks. #TheBirthdayParty #QuiverDistribution #drama #WillemDafoe #movies https://bit.ly/DafoeParty
negative · AI labelView post →Movie TV Tech Geeks #MovieNews #WillemDafoe #TheBirthdayParty #Drama Willem Dafoe’s Twisted New Mystery Movie Officially Releases This Week [Exclusive] http://dlvr.it/TTyj5Z
neutral · AI labelView post →Movie TV Tech Geeks #Movie #WillemDafoe #LateFame #TheBirthdayParty Willem Dafoe Breaks Down His Two Very Different Sides in 'Late Fame' and 'The Birthday Party' http://dlvr.it/TTxh5K
neutral · AI labelView post →The Birthday Party (2026) - Movie Review www.flickeringmyth.com/movie-review...
neutral · AI labelView post →Coming next Friday is the emotionally charged drama THE BIRTHDAY PARTY, starring Willem Dafoe. I talk to co-star Vic Carmen Sonne and director Miguel Angel Jimenez about the film in this exclusive interview. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQvV...
neutral · AI labelView post →Now watching: THE BIRTHDAY PARTY (Miguel Ángel Jiménez)
neutral · AI labelView post →MOVIE QUOTE OF THE DAY: “You’re in a terrible humor today, Mr. Webber. And on your birthday, too.” Sidney Tafler in The Birthday Party #TheBirthdayParty #WilliamFriedkin #HaroldPinter #moviequotes #moviequoteoftheday
neutral · AI labelView post →‘The Birthday Party’ Review: A Dazzlingly Melancholy Monica Bellucci Powers Léa Mysius’ Predictable but Superbly Directed Home Invasion Thriller https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/the-birthday-party-review-lea-mysius-1235195813/
neutral · AI labelView post →The Birthday Party review – grimly compulsive unhappy occasion in deepest France | Cannes film festival https://www.byteseu.com/2044155/ There’s nothing like a home-invasion suspense thriller to provide a change of pace in the Cannes competition, and Léa Mysius’s film – adapted from the French …
neutral · AI labelView post →Repubblica.it: Da Monica Bellucci a Eva Longoria: i look sul red carpet di Cannes 2026 Tappeto rosso per l’ultimo film in concorso: è il turno di “Histoires de la nuit (The Birthday Party)” di Léa Mysius, che chiude la kermesse cinematografica in attesa della premiazione di domani From Monica Bellucci to Eva Longoria: The red carpet looks at the Cannes Film Festival 2026 Red carpet for the last film in competition: it’s the turn of “Histoires de la nuit (The Birthday Party)” by Léa Mysius,…
neutral · AI labelView post →‘The Birthday Party’ Review: Hafsia Herzi and Benoît Magimel Have a History in Léa Mysius’ Lackluster Home Invasion Thriller https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://variety.com/2026/film/reviews/the-birthday-party-review-1236756784/
neutral · AI labelView post →Today: La confessione di Monica Bellucci sul rapporto con la figlia Deva: “Ne sa più di me, io resto in silenzio” Monica Bellucci è a Cannes con due film. In uno, Butterfly Jam, interpreta sé stessa in un cameo, i The birthday party è Cristina, un ruolo molto lontano da lei: "Era una sfida. Una donna isolata, abbandonata, chiusa in sé, che sta invecchiando.In una scena viene chiamata “vecchia strega”: “Mi... Monica Bellucci’s confession about her relationship with her daughter Deva: “She knows…
neutral · AI labelView post →'The Birthday Party' Trailer Finds Willem Dafoe In a '70s-set Mediterranean Thriller!! Check It Out!! #CarlosCuevas, #EmmaSuarez, #JoeCole, #TheBirthdayParty, #VicCarmenSonne, #WillemDafoe https://movizark.com/2026/04/24/the-birthday-party-trailer-finds-willem-dafoe-in-a-70s-set-mediterranean-thriller-check-it-out/
neutral · AI labelView post →Willem Dafoe Is a Tycoon in The Birthday Party Trailer https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/trailers/2124250-willem-dafoe-tycoon-the-birthday-party-trailer
neutral · AI labelView post →Willem Dafoe is, as ever, a compelling presence in Miguel Ángel Jiménez’s 70s-set melodrama The Birthday Party but the film around him is bland and boring. We’re invited into a lavish celebration but stuck with the worst people in the room, we’re left looking for an excuse to leave early #GFF26
negative · AI labelView post →New reviews (as of 25/01/26) The Mastermind (2025): boxd.it/cHXeul The Birthday Party (1968): boxd.it/cK6ZbB Paris Is Burning (1990): boxd.it/cKVX91 Duck, You Sucker (1971): boxd.it/cMRvKN (1/1)
neutral · AI labelView post →Watching Mutiny in Heaven, a documentary about the band The Birthday Party. Love Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds but haven't given the preceding band a proper go. That will definitely change!
neutral · AI labelView post →Trailer Blitz! The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Christy, Nouvelle Vague, Swiped, Coyotes, Mr. K, The Ice Tower, The Birthday Party, Jimpa and More www.themoviebox.net/p/trailer-bl...
neutral · AI labelView post →👁️🗨️ #cinema "Miguel Ángel Jiménez is a Spanish director by blood, but his features are a prime example of what a 'European' film is today. [...] The cast is multi-national, and so are the characters..." - Read the review of #Locarno2025 Piazza Grande entry The Birthday Party: cineuropa.org/482130
neutral · AI labelView post →Yeah I think it's a pretty fine cover. The original version closes out Dogs In Space - the only song in the movie not actually from the era depicted. Almost picked Marie Hoy's cover of "Shivers" (the Rowland S Howard track first recorded by the Birthday Party) - both versions are in the movie.
neutral · AI labelView post →I know the place. It is true. Everything we do Corrects the space Between death and me And you. 🎭✒ #HaroldPinter, British playwright, screenwriter, and Nobel Laureate 2005 ("The Birthday Party", "The Homecoming") #DOTD 24 December 2008. #Film #Theatre #Literature
neutral · AI labelView post →
Posts are quoted from public profiles with links to the original. Want yours removed? Contact us.
This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
