™
Drowning by Numbers
From Stimuleringsfonds Nederlandse Culturele Omroepproducties · Elsevier-Vendex Film Beheer · Allarts Production
Three Women And A Coroner.
Create a free account to see where Drowning by Numbers is streaming, with prices and your services first.
Where to watch
Not available to stream in US
🔔 Notify me when it’s streamingSynopsis
Cissie Colpitts drowns her cheating husband and, in the ensuing cover-up, enlists the help of lonely coroner Henry Madgett, an old friend with a longstanding weakness for her charms. But when Cissie's daughter and granddaughter—both also named Cissie Colpitts—decide to resort to the same methods for solving conflicts with their own frustrating husbands, the women and their repeated appeals for help begin to wear on Madgett's conscience.
Themes
Cast & crew
Directed by Peter Greenaway
Joan Plowright
Juliet Stevenson
Joely Richardson
Bernard Hill
Bryan Pringle
Trevor Cooper
David Morrissey
John Rogan
Jane Gurnett
Kenny IrelandVideos
Trailers
Images · 14
Similar titles
Reviews · from TMDB members
CinemaSerfAug 9, 2023
I actually found this to be one of Peter Greenaway's more accessible films. Though it's still riddled with some surreal imagery that made little, if any, sense to me, it is quite an effective and funny look at the institution of marriage. Now the Colpitts family can't really be accused of having much imagination when it comes to naming their offspring. "Cissie" (Joan Plowright) has "Cissie" (Juliet Stephenson) who has "Cissie (Joely Richardson) and none of these women make ma… Read more
tches that they want to endure. There's plenty of philandering going on, so - well use the title as a clue as to just what happens now... This is a strongly characterised drama with three women very much at the top of their game, ably supported by Bernard Hill's rather eccentric "Madgett", that interweaves an intricate serious of - ok, not always the most plausible - sub-plots into a story that's ultimately a revenge comedy. It's a bit on the long side, and it does sag slightly when - I felt, anyway - there is less Plowright on the screen but the dialogue is quickly and pithily delivered, there is loads of rather natural nudity to lend authenticity to the earthiness of the topic and we are left with a powerful assassination of the marriage state and a clear illustration that there are more ways than one to skin a cat (and get away with it!). Michael Nyman has scored this jauntily and together with Sacha Vierny's eclectic style of cinematography, makes this film fun to watch with some deadly undercurrents.