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White Mischief

White Mischief

Drama · Romance · Thriller · 1987

A millionaire past his prime and his young wife arrive in Kenya circa 1940 to find that the other affluent British expatriates are living large as the homefront gears up for war. They are busy swapping partners, doing drugs, and attending lavish parties and horse races. She begins a torrid affair with one of the bon vivants, and her husband finds out and confronts them. The husband and wife decide to break up peacefully, but the bon vivant is murdered and all the evidence points to the husband.

Movie details

White Mischief

“In a world of wife swapping, drugs and chocolate covered lobsters, murder seemed so uncivilised.”

1987 Drama · Romance · Thriller 1h 47m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.1 / 10

Community rating

A millionaire past his prime and his young wife arrive in Kenya circa 1940 to find that the other affluent British expatriates are living large as the homefront gears up for war. They are busy swapping partners, doing drugs, and attending lavish parties and horse races. She begins a torrid affair with one of the bon vivants, and her husband finds out and confronts them. The husband and wife decide to break up peacefully, but the bon vivant is murdered and all the evidence points to the husband.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over White Mischief?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Michael Radford

Written by

Jonathan Gems · Michael Radford

Greta Scacchi

Greta Scacchi

Diana, Lady Broughton

Charles Dance

Charles Dance

Josslyn Hay

Joss Ackland

Joss Ackland

'Jock' Delves Broughton

Sarah Miles

Sarah Miles

Alice de Janzé

John Hurt

John Hurt

Gilbert Colville

Trevor Howard

Trevor Howard

Jack Soames

Geraldine Chaplin

Geraldine Chaplin

Nina Soames

Court is in session

Put White Mischief on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.