A slick, high-concept thriller with a strong hook and a propulsive first half, but it leans hard on wish-fulfillment and gets shakier as it goes. The premise is memorable, the pace is brisk, and Bradley Cooper makes the ascent feel fun even when the movie’s logic gets fuzzy.
Limitless
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Thriller · Mystery
Thu · 1h 46m
Director: Neil Burger
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Abbie Cornish
Overview
The life of an unsuccessful writer is transformed by a top-secret 'smart drug' that allows him to use 100% of his brain and become a perfect version of himself. His enhanced abilities soon attract shadowy forces that threaten his new life.
Director
Neil Burger
Cast
Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Abbie Cornish
Curator Review
Verdict
A slick, high-concept thriller with a strong hook and a propulsive first half, but it leans hard on wish-fulfillment and gets shakier as it goes. The premise is memorable, the pace is brisk, and Bradley Cooper makes the ascent feel fun even when the movie’s logic gets fuzzy.
Best for
viewers who like glossy early-2010s thrillers
fans of smart-drug or enhancement premises
people in the mood for a fast, easy watch with some style
audiences who enjoy antihero power fantasies
Skip if
you want rigorous science fiction
you dislike smug or bro-y protagonist energy
you need airtight plotting
you prefer thrillers with deeper emotional stakes
Overview
Limitless is built on an irresistible premise: what if a pill could turn an underachiever into the sharpest person in the room? The movie understands the fantasy of instant competence and runs with it, giving Bradley Cooper a slick, caffeinated rise through New York finance and social life. It’s entertaining in a very surface-level way, and that surface is polished enough to carry a lot of the film’s weaker ideas.
Worth noting
Where it stumbles is in the execution. The movie often feels more interested in the power trip than in the consequences, and the visual style can turn frantic when it should feel precise. The result is a thriller that is easy to watch and easy to remember, but not always for the reasons it wants.
Bottom line
Still, there’s a certain appeal to how shamelessly it sells ambition as a drug. If you’re in the mood for a glossy, high-energy cautionary tale that doubles as a fantasy of total self-optimization, it delivers enough momentum to keep you engaged.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Josh Lewis (2★) · 2638 likes
Ok but you get to go full blown galaxy brain and all you use it on is frat bro, Wolf of Wall Street power fantasies? What a goddamn waste. My girl Lucy at least tried to like bend time and space and transcend consciousness through genre, meanwhile, B Coops just gets really good at capitalism. Talk about a lack of vision. Speaking of which, this mostly ranges from completely visually incoherent to visually moronic. As we all know cutting faster
Griffin (2.5★) · 2372 likes
Oh man this is so silly. At least the premise is cool and it has a nice message — drugs are tight and you should abuse the shit out of them.
I’m The Only Juan (2★) · 2285 likes
This movie smells like Axe Body Spray.
kayla (2.5★) · 1391 likes
This is how I think I am when I take Adderall
Scumbalina (0.5★) · 1174 likes
This movie is a douche bag.
Themes
enhancement fantasy, ambition, addiction, power and corruption, identity transformation, capitalism, self-optimization, moral compromise
Topics
thriller, science fiction, psychological, addiction, ambition, capitalism, power fantasy, slick, fast-paced, early 2010s