The King of Comedy (1982) poster
1982 · comedy · drama

The King of Comedy

Directed by Martin Scorsese1h 49m1982
ElsewhereIMDb7.8132kRT89%Metacritic73TMDB7.83k
  • sombre
  • intense
  • bleak
  • cold
Movie DNA

Sombre, steady, measured comedy / drama, inventive in texture. Nihilistic, intimate, cold, hand-scored across twelve axes of taste.

How every film is hand-scored →

Aspiring comic Rupert Pupkin attempts to achieve success in show business by stalking his idol, a late night talk-show host who craves his own privacy.

Our read · The King of Comedy (1982) reads as a sombre, steady, inventive comedy · drama entry — measured in intensity, intimate in scope, cold in temperature, nihilistic in outlook, with a strong directorial signature. Hand-scored on twelve axes of taste — mood, pacing, weirdness, hope, stakes, humour, reality, density, warmth, auteur, intensity, and era — with a derived palette drawn from its dominant cinematography.

Where the cast leads
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The shape of The King of Comedy

Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

You want Scorsese's creepiest comedy about craving the spotlight at any cost.

ends unsettlingit leaves you shakena slow buildgrips by minute 22attention 4/5earns its length
Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around
Heads-upcringe humiliation

Skip it tonightSkip if relentless awkward stalking leaves you squirming instead of thinking.

DNA · twelve axes

The reading.

Each axis is hand-scored — not derived from votes or genre averages. The marker shows where this film sits; the gradient fill uses the film's own cinematography palette.

Mood · HeavyCosy
Pacing · Slow-burnKinetic
Intensity · GentleExtreme
Weirdness · ConventionalSurreal
Hope · NihilisticRedemptive
Stakes · IntimateEpic
Humour · NoneBroad
Reality · GroundedFantastical
Density · SparseTwisty
Warmth · ColdTender
Auteur · TransparentSignature
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