What is the iRankMovies score for Twelve Monkeys?

Name: Twelve Monkeys
Director: Terry Gilliam
Genre: mystery, science-fiction, thriller
Released: 1995
Duration: 2 h 9 min
Rating: 8

Twelve Monkeys has an iRankMovies score of 80.6/100, based on a weighted combination of IMDb (×3.0), Rotten Tomatoes (×2.0), Metacritic (×1.5), and TMDb (×1.0).

Twelve Monkeys (1995)

The future is history.

Release:1995

Runtime:2h 9m

Country:United States

Director:Terry Gilliam

Language:English

Genre

MysteryScience FictionThriller

See the best mystery movies →

Keywords

Biological WeaponPhiladelphia PennsylvaniaSchizophreniaStockholm SyndromeAirplaneWorld War IUndergroundInsanity

iRank81

Twelve Monkeys rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb8/10· 677K votes

Rotten Tomatoes88%

Metacritic75%

TMDb7.606/10· 9K votes

With 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 8/10 on IMDb and 75/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been very positive.

About Twelve Monkeys

In the year 2035, convict James Cole reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to discover the origin of a deadly virus that wiped out nearly all of the earth's population and forced the survivors into underground communities. But when Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990 instead of 1996, he's arrested and locked up in a mental hospital. There he meets psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly and the son of a famous virus expert who may hold the key to the Army of the 12 Monkeys; thought to be responsible for unleashing the killer disease.

Cast of Twelve Monkeys

Bruce Willis
as James Cole
Madeleine Stowe
as Dr. Kathryn Railly
Brad Pitt
as Jeffrey Goines
Christopher Plummer
as Dr. Goines
David Morse
as Dr. Peters
Jon Seda
as Jose
Christopher Meloni
as Lt. Halperin
Joey Perillo
as Detective Franki
LisaGay Hamilton
as Teddy
Matt Ross
as Bee
Annie Golden
as Woman Cabbie
M
Michael Chance
as Scarface

Twelve Monkeys facts

Budget: $29M
Box office: $168.8M

Our take on Twelve Monkeys

Terry Gilliam's 1995 science-fiction mystery sends convict James Cole back from a plague-ravaged 2035 to trace the virus that drove humanity underground. A misfire lands him in 1990, where a mental hospital, psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly, and the enigmatic Army of the 12 Monkeys tangle his mission in doubt. Gilliam favours grimy, disorienting design and a hero who can never be sure what is real, so this rewards viewers who like their time-travel thrillers paranoid and melancholy rather than tidy. If you enjoy dense puzzles about memory, madness and fate, and don't mind ambiguity, it makes a rich, unsettling watch that repays close attention.

Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026Methodology Data sources