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The Straight Story
Film
274 reactions from 3 sources (Bluesky, Mastodon, TMDB reviews) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
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Sentiment labels for these sources are still being hand-checked; no score yet.
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluesky * | 75 | 6 | 180 |
| Mastodon * | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| TMDB reviews * | 2 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
What people are saying
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At a glance
The Elephant Man is a 1980 drama history film, directed by David Lynch, starring Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt and Anne Bancroft.
- 231 people have posted about this film on Bluesky, Mastodon, TMDB reviews
- posts span Jul 2, 2020 to Nov 5, 2026
Assembled from TMDB, Wikidata and Steam fields and our own counts, nothing written by a model. Method
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
274 public posts have mentioned The Elephant Man so far, but it needs 10 opinionated reactions from checked sources before it gets a score. Seen it? Post your take.
The Experts
84%
avg of 3 sources
The People
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audience score
Reactions
60 of 274 · most liked firstWithout Mel Brooks hiring Lynch to make THE ELEPHANT MAN — on the strength of ERASERHEAD alone — he is very likely just a guy who made a weird film at AFI. That whole filmography you love doesn’t happen. We all need sponsors and mentors and patrons. We need people who believe in us.
positive · AI labelView post →Mel Brooks produced The Elephant Man: this was his response to Paramount’s demand for changes "We are involved in a business venture. We screened the film for you, to bring you up to date as to the status of that venture. Do not misconstrue this as our soliciting the input of raging primitives."
neutral · AI labelView post →Tonight's film was The Elephant Man (1980). A heartbreaking watch. In lesser hands, this would have been a standard period piece biopic, but Lynch made this so much more.
positive · AI labelView post →Mel Brooks' statement to the Elephant Man producers, "We are involved in a business venture. We screened the film for you to bring you up to date as to the status of that venture. Do not misconstrue this as our soliciting the input of raging primitives," goes so hard it should be illegal.
neutral · AI labelView post →Happy Birthday to Mel Brooks who took an independent surrealist filmmaker out of obscurity (Lynch's words) and gave him a prestigious biographical period piece to make as a second feature. That film, "The Elephant Man" moved the world and received 8 Academy Award nominations.
neutral · AI labelView post →RIP the brilliantly original David Lynch So many haunting films like "The Elephant Man" or disturbing like "Blue Velvet" but my personal favourite was "The Straight Story" such a beautiful movie. RS
neutral · AI labelView post →Executives asked for changes to The Elephant Man, which Mel Brooks was producing. His response: ‘We are involved in a business venture. We screened the film for you, to bring you up to date as to the status of that venture. Do not misconstrue this as our soliciting the input of raging primitives.’
neutral · AI labelView post →Off to the BFI tonight to see 'The Elephant Man' on the big screen. It's showing as part of their David Lynch season. There may be tears 😢 #FilmSky #DavidLynch
neutral · AI labelView post →"Twenty years from now, honey, I'm gonna produce a movie of The Elephant Man, and you're gonna be in it!"
neutral · AI labelView post →After a screening of the film The Elephant Man, studio executives recommended the surreal scenes be cut. Mel Brooks responded: "We screened the film to bring you up to date as to the status of that venture. Do not misconstrue this as our soliciting the input of raging primitives."
neutral · AI labelView post →Still mildly obsessed with the packaging for the UK 4K of THE ELEPHANT MAN which is one of the more lavish home video releases for a Lynch film and is absolutely worth seeking out over the US blu-ray for image quality alone.
positive · AI labelView post →Apparently when investors wanted Lynch’s surreal scenes cut from “The Elephant Man,” Brooks responded: "We screened the film to bring you up to date as to the status of that venture. Do not misconstrue this as our soliciting the input of raging primitives."
neutral · AI labelView post →Mel Brooks (with scenes from David Lynch's "The Elephant Man". The film was produced by Mel Brooks (who was uncredited, to avoid audiences anticipating the film being in the vein of his comedic works)) - BOTD
neutral · AI labelView post →The opposite is also true. The studio wanted to change THE ELEPHANT MAN. Mel said, ‘We are engaged in a business venture. We screened the film to bring you up to date on the status of that venture. Do not misconstrue this as soliciting the input of raging primitives.’
neutral · AI labelView post →A David Lynch-related story: My father died suddenly in November 1980. A few days after the funeral, my grandpa decided to take me, then 13, to a movie to cheer me up. He must have looked over the ads and found what I'm sure seemed like a delightful circus film: The Elephant Man.
neutral · AI labelView post →Happy #LetterboxdFriday 📽️! It was a slow movie week for me and I only ended up seeing three. What are your #lastfourwatched? Dune (1984) The Room Next Door (2024) Branded to Kill (1967) The Elephant Man (1980)
neutral · AI labelView post →OK, I had no idea Mel Brooks produced The Elephant Man, which was the movie that I saw on the first date I ever went on, so apparently my entire high school dating life was devoted to seeing Mel Brooks movies
neutral · AI labelView post →I take this back: I just realized that the very first movie I ever saw on a date was The Elephant Man! Not really a date movie in retrospect. Also, my date & somehow I got separated, so I wound up watching it in the balcony and he saw it in the main area (or vice-versa, I can't remember)
neutral · AI labelView post →On this day (27th January) in 1983, the Scala Cinema was showing Young Frankenstein (1974) and The Elephant Man (1980) as a double bill.
neutral · AI labelView post →The last 4 movies I watched... The Last Temptation of Christ The Elephant Man The Invite Married to the Mob #lastfourwatched #letterboxdfriday #letterboxd #filmsky #moviesky boxd.it/Iqj
neutral · AI labelView post →Me on David Lynch, a piece I'd rather never have had to write. An uncompromising American original. As a kid from before the VHS era, my earliest memory of his work is watching that single tear go down Hopkins's face in THE ELEPHANT MAN on release in 1980. www.irishtimes.com/culture/film...
neutral · AI labelView post →I played the titular man in the stage version of THE ELEPHANT MAN, which bizarrely has no direct relation to the contemporaneous film directed by the late David Lynch But I always felt like Lynch and I were in a special club of people who loved John Merrick very much and wish he’d had a better life
neutral · AI labelView post →As someone whose life was changed by playing the title character in Bernard Pomerance's play THE ELEPHANT MAN (no relation to the David Lynch film) back in school, I am beyond elated to see that the play is being made into a film starring actually-disabled actor Adam Pearson I will definitely cry
neutral · AI labelView post →just saw David Lynch's THE ELEPHANT MAN for the first time (and in theaters!) and I'm having so many feelings MY GOD; what an incredible film
positive · AI labelView post →Walkabout - The best Australian New Wave. The Elephant Man - Great performances in a tragic story. The Thomas Crown Affair - An original date movie of ours. Cheesy but still love it. Toni Erdmann - Sandra Huller is my favorite actor currently. #LastFourWatched #letterboxdfriday #letterboxd #filmsky
positive · AI labelView post →100 not out! Mel is one of my heroes, one of the coolest guys ever, not just as a writer & director but using his production house to champion eclectic cinema (The Elephant Man, The Fly, My Favorite Year) Anyway: my favourite of his: Hitchcock spoof High Anxiety. I got it, I got it, I don’t got it
neutral · AI labelView post →Mel Brooks (with scenes from David Lynch's "The Elephant Man". The film was produced by Mel Brooks (who was uncredited, to avoid audiences anticipating the film being in the vein of his comedic works)) - BOTD
neutral · AI labelView post →#MovieMadness #Filmsky #Moviesky #Moviechallenge Day 21: A movie that makes you cry The Elephant Man (1980)
neutral · AI labelView post →For me, the answer is always going to be THE ELEPHANT MAN. That movie has so many such moments, but the one that hits hardest is Anne Bancroft blessing John Merrick by treating him with kindness and grace.
positive · AI labelView post →Now playing: The Elephant Man This is a film that was simultaneously very, very good and (for a long time) too painful for me to revisit, putting that in the company of such films as Grave of the Fireflies and The Green Mile. Because of David Lynch, well... I *have* to revisit this. 🎥
positive · AI labelView post →Here is Mel Brook's message in light of the passing of David Lynch (who worked on The Elephant Man (which Mel was an executive producer of but went uncredited to avoid audiences anticipating the film being in the vein of his comedic works).
neutral · AI labelView post →I don’t have my copy of FROM HELL handy, but I seem to recall an appendix interview with Alan Moore where he said THE ELEPHANT MAN was the only movie that truly captured the utter filth and misery of Victorian London
neutral · AI labelView post →#LetterboxdFriday Children of the Corn II (1992) Children of the Corn III (1995) Donnie Darko (2001) The Elephant Man (1980) A couple of horror movie sequels, a first watch of DD since it came out and a David Lynch film which was new on me #FilmSky #LastFourWatched
neutral · AI labelView post →The other thing about Mel Brooks? HE'S A GREAT PRODUCER. He hired David Lynch to direct The Elephant Man based on Eraserhead, he made 84 Charing Cross Rd film-able for Anne Bancroft as an anniversary gift, & hired Cronenberg for The Fly..
neutral · AI labelView post →#NowWatching THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980). Director: David Lynch. John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins. Long before I fell in love with Lynch's BLUE VELVET weirdness, already infatuated with his empathy. Rewatching lifelong favorite. Spoiler Alert: 5-star review forthcoming. #filmsky 📽🎥 Criterion Collection 1051
positive · AI labelView post →Saw The Elephant Man today. Such a beautiful movie. Mel Brooks wrote it, but didn't direct, he thought his movies were known as comedy and didn't want that association. Someone told him to see Lynch's Eraserhead. Lynch tells the story that Brooks then came and gave him a big hug and said I love you
neutral · AI labelView post →My ★★★★★ review of The Elephant Man boxd.it/92BOeL Horrific & humane, David Lynch's true-life account of ultimate outsider remains his most emotional film. John Hurt stuns as exploited freakshow performer finding compassion in cruel world. Sad, yet hopeful. #filmsky 📽🎥🎞🎬 Criterion Collection 1051
positive · AI labelView post →My favorite David Lynch movie is THE ELEPHANT MAN. It's the most human movie I have ever seen.
positive · AI labelView post →A Different Man's breakout star Adam Pearson is set to play Joseph Merrick in The Elephant Man, the first movie adaptation of Bernard Pomerance's Tony-winning play. Read more: www.empireonline.com/movies/news/...
neutral · AI labelView post →Hi, I'm Vivian and I write horror, all kinds. I think The Elephant Man might be my favorite film about isolation. And then there's the book Circe by Madeline Miller. Great novel! #HorrorWritersChat
positive · AI labelView post →‘A Different Man’ star, Adam Pearson is set to play Joseph Merrick in ‘THE ELEPHANT MAN’. 🎬 🔗 variety.com/2025/film/ne...
neutral · AI labelView post →The Elephant Man. That's the movie starring Wendy Hiller, right?
neutral · AI labelView post →playing silly games with dadaschek to start stream then having a DAVID LYNCH movie night in memoriam of one of the goats watching The Elephant Man and Blue Velvet tap in live now www.twitch.tv/nandre
neutral · AI labelView post →When StudioCanal asked me for a favourite movie to review on blu-ray, I chose David Lynch's The Elephant Man. For a director known for trickiness and obscurity, this was, alongside The Straight Story, probably his most straightforward and downright moving film. film-authority.com/2022/07/13/t...
neutral · AI labelView post →A deeply moving portrait of humanity and compassion, The Elephant Man tells the story of Joseph Merrick and his fight to be seen as human. TFH Guru Karyn Kusama, director of Jennifer's Body, revisits the film with her trailer commentary. trailersfromhell.com/the-elephant...
neutral · AI labelView post →Tonight's film The Elephant Man (1980)
neutral · AI labelView post →The first Lynch movie I ever saw was THE ELEPHANT MAN in my eighth grade English class. I cried after watching it. And sought out the rest of his works afterward. One of a kind doesn’t go far enough in describing his greatness. We lost a genius and a giant.
positive · AI labelView post →Freddie Francis (with scenes from the David Lynch film "The Elephant Man" where Francis served as the cinematographer) - BOTD
neutral · AI labelView post →On the newest Fix Your Heart or Die we talk about the movie The Elephant Man, and in particular how the film depicts the forms that ablism can take, both overt and subtle. open.spotify.com/episode/2hW4...
neutral · AI labelView post →Mel Brooks was a producer on the movie The Elephant Man, but his name was intentionally uncredited as to not lead audiences to believe the film was a comedy.
neutral · AI labelView post →Mel Brooks (with scenes from David Lynch's "The Elephant Man". The film was produced by Mel Brooks (who was uncredited, to avoid audiences anticipating the film being in the vein of his comedic works)) - BOTD
neutral · AI labelView post →I wrote about The Elephant Man, the Lynchian, and how the director's most "normal" film is still deeply odd.
neutral · AI labelView post →Homework for serious film students! -- This month on LynchPins we're covering David Lynch's evocative period drama The Elephant Man! The episode drops on May 21st on YouTube, ~or you can watch the special extended version on Nebula a whole week early on May 14th (next Tuesday)~!
neutral · AI labelView post →If this is your first watch, this is the film that cemented Mel Brooks’ decision to use Lynch as the director for The Elephant Man. #FrightClub #Eraserhead
neutral · AI labelView post →the only David Lynch film I haven't seen yet is The Elephant Man and I'm afraid to go through with it, because then...that's all. No more David Lynch features. forever.
neutral · AI labelView post →Glad Criterion is reissuing THE ELEPHANT MAN in 4K but I'm sticking with my UK release, which opens like a popup book! Every Lynch movie should have inexplicable packaging.
neutral · AI labelView post →Went to see The Elephant Man at @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social last night for the Lynch retro and I gotta say, I’ve never seen that many grown men openly weeping (complimentary) before in my life. Great movie.
positive · AI labelView post →What Mel told the executives who wanted to cut the beginning and end off of The Elephant Man: "We are involved in a business venture. We screened the film for you, to bring you up to date as to the status of that venture. Do not misconstrue this as our soliciting the input of raging primitives."
neutral · AI labelView post →Digitized some scenes from my high-school performance as the title character in Bernard Pomerance's THE ELEPHANT MAN (soon to be a major motion picture! no relation to the David Lynch movie!) Anyway, here's me in the scene where Merrick sees a woman's breasts for the first time Major egg vibes tbh
neutral · AI labelView post →Not for nothing but the stage version of The Elephant Man is traditionally performed without prosthetic makeup, and is unrelated to the Lynch movie aside from being based on the same person. David Bowie did it without prosthetics, so did Mark Hamill. It’s not like Cooper was being a diva
neutral · AI labelView post →
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