The French Lieutenant's Woman

1981 · directed by Karel Reisz · 124 min

22,556 feet · Prominence

1,490th of 15,261 films scored

Not coveredNo Rewatchables episode on file.

How this film scores

Draw37

$3m worldwide in 1981 — $10m in today's money.

As released$3mIn 2026 money$10mRank5,933 of 8,589In 198165 of 76

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise83

Critics 74, awards 70. Half each, so Praise lands at 83.

Critics74 → 37Awards70 → 35

Oscars5 nominated Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Costume Design, Production Design, Film Editing

Golden Globes1 won Actress1 nominated Screenplay

BAFTAs2 won Actress, Sound

How Praise works

Half critics, half a tiered award record where Picture and Directing carry most of the weight. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since.

Legacy42

Judged directly: Criterion; Streep, admired but faded.

Verdict42 of 100IMDb6.9 from 16kWikipedia10k views a monthAge45 years

On the listsCriterion Collectionevidence, not an input to the score

Scored beside it · 1,185 of 3,430 films judged

42The Mission (1986)

42Hannibal (2001)

42Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)

42The First Wives Club (1996)

42The Fog (1980)

42The Karate Kid Part II (1986)

42The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 37 praise 83 legacy 42averages 54, which places it at22,556 ft

How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

In these careers — elevation for this film

Meryl Streep22,554 ft