Paul Schrader Dismisses ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ as a Descent Into ‘Sex Party Crazyland’ Right in Time for Christmas

The "First Reformed" writer/director took aim at the Stanley Kubrick holiday favorite on Facebook.

Paul Schrader doesn’t shy away from airing his views on Facebook, even when that means ruffling feathers.

Last week, right in time for the holidays, the “Master Gardener” and “First Reformed” director took aim at Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut,” despite it being considered a masterpiece by many of his industry peers and a tried-and-true Christmas classic.

“EYES WIDE SHUT. I watched the Criterion reissue so see if my opinion (not positive) had changed over time. The first hour is brilliants, razor sharp dialogue, top notch performances by Kidman and Cruise. After that it falls into woowoo Bosch Imperiati sex party crazyland,” Schrader posted on his social media platform of choice. “After aother half hour EWS stuggles to right itself on the rails but cannot. It’s like someone who tries to convince you something illogical makes sense only to make it seem even crazier. The Criterion extras make a big deal about how Kubrick replicated NYC but even that seems false: wrong extras, body language, street lighting.”

The director was referring to the Criterion Collection’s 4K restoration of Kubrick’s erotic thriller, released last month. In addition to correcting color and lighting issues, the restoration overseen by director of photography Larry Smith returns the film’s once-censored sex scenes to their original glory. But it’s likely not the removal of the hooded digital figures, which were added to “Eyes Wide Shut” to block onscreen penetration in 1999, that Schrader was taking issue with, since previous rereleases did the same. Instead, he seems to have a problem with the entire premise of the film, which sends its protagonist, Dr. Bill (Tom Cruise), on a dreamy journey into the world of an elite sex cult, the film probing the politics of marriage along the way.

On top of critiquing the fantasy portion of “Eyes Wide Shut” for being illogical and unrealistic, Schrader’s comments also seem to imply he’s in a camp of people who believe Kubrick wasn’t finished perfecting the film when he died right before its release. (Kubrick’s collaborators on the feature broadly dispute this point.) Or that Kubrick, Cruise, and Nicole Kidman lost control of the film after an hour in.

Schrader’s Facebook page is far from the only reason he’s a controversial figure; this year, the director made headlines for assault allegations made by his former assistant. Since releasing the Richard Gere-led “Oh, Canada” in 2024, Schrader also wrapped shooting “The Basics of Philosophy,” with Jack Huston and Sofia Boutella, and is looking for more ways to use AI in his films.