Angels in America backdrop
Angels in America logo
2003·Drama·6 episodes
8.4
★
God has abandoned Heaven. It's 1985: the Reagans are in the White House and Death swings the scythe of AIDS. In Manhattan, Prior Walter tells Louis, his lover of four years, he's ill; Louis leaves but as disease and loneliness ravage Prior, guilt invades Louis. Joe Pitt, a Mormon Republican attorney, is pushed by right-wing fixer Roy Cohn toward a job at the Justice Department. Pitt and Cohn are closeted: Pitt, out of shame and religious turmoil; Cohn, to preserve his power and access. Pitt's wife Harper is strung out on Valium, aching to escape a sexless marriage. An angel invites Prior to be a prophet in death.
Created by Tony Kushner
new york city
angel
aids
drag queen
drug addiction
heaven
terminal illness
ronald reagan
hiv
based on play or musical
miniseries
social commentary
cross dressing
sexual repression
mormon
lgbt
1980s
closeted homosexual
gay theme
political drama
republican
mother-in-law daughter-in-law relationship
central park

Seasons

Limited Series
Limited Series
6 episodes · 2003

Cast

Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Roy Cohn
Justin Kirk
Justin Kirk
Prior Walter / Leatherman in the Park
Ben Shenkman
Ben Shenkman
Louis Ironson / The Angel Oceania
Mary-Louise Parker
Mary-Louise Parker
Harper Pitt
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Hannah Pitt / Ethel Rosenberg / The Rabbi / The Angel Australia
Jeffrey Wright
Jeffrey Wright
Norman 'Belize' Ariaga / Mr. Lies / Homeless man / The Angel Europa
Patrick Wilson
Patrick Wilson
Joe Pitt
Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson
Nurse Emily / Homeless Woman / The Angel
Brian Markinson
Brian Markinson
Martin Heller
James Cromwell
James Cromwell
Roy's Doctor
Florence Kastriner
Florence Kastriner
Mrs. Ironson
Howard Pinhasik
Howard Pinhasik
Mr. Ironson

Crew

Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols
Director
Tony Kushner
Tony Kushner
Writer
Thomas Newman
Thomas Newman
Original Music Composer
Stephen Goldblatt
Stephen Goldblatt
Director of Photography
Cary Brokaw
Cary Brokaw
Executive Producer
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols
Executive Producer
Celia D. Costas
Celia D. Costas
Producer
Tony Kushner
Tony Kushner
Teleplay
Tony Kushner
Tony Kushner
Theatre Play
Ann Roth
Ann Roth
Costume Design
Danny Aiello III
Danny Aiello III
Stunt Coordinator
Ellen Lewis
Ellen Lewis
Casting

Popular Reviews

166 reviews
Megan
Megan
Angels in America
Fabulous 1000/1000 


(Patrick Wilson in this is so 🥰🤭 )
Fabulous 1000/1000 


(Patrick Wilson in this is so 🥰🤭 )
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Oliver
Oliver
Angels in America
When your circle small but all yall gay and sad!!!!
When your circle small but all yall gay and sad!!!!
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e blackmon
e blackmon
Angels in America
okay gang strap in, i have a lot to say about this one:

probably the only 6 hour long movie i would ever even consider giving five stars, and even then i went in ready to be pretty annoyed about it. its dense, narratively complex, and has such deep characterization that it calls for every single moment of its runtime. 

one of the very first examples of true prestige television and probably my favorite i’ve ever seen.

tony kushner is one of the best to ever do it and the whole cast is in tip top shape. the double and triple casting is unbelievable. meryl streep transforms into completely different people, al pacino gives what’s probably close to a career best, patrick wilson is a surprise standout and jeffrey wright is basically perfect. it’s a lineup of heavy hitters all working at like full capacity on my favorite script ever.

even beyond the writing and performances, this thing is a masterclass. i think oftentimes cinematography in play adaptations can be lacking because its adapting a staged narrative, but here it’s so fluid and surreal and blends so seamlessly that it feels like this was always meant for the screen. 

unbelievably real and strikingly beautiful. deeply funny and utterly devastating. i can’t even begin to explain everything that works here. this thing addresses so many themes so well. kushner tackles queerness, AIDS, Reaganism, religion, politics, modern relationships, independence, identity, sex, addiction, death, and life. many, many strands woven together expertly, and somehow it never feels convoluted or bogged down. it’s just real. 

oh and fuck roy cohn. like fr deeply and historically. fuck roy cohn forever.
okay gang strap in, i have a lot to say about this one:

probably the only 6 hour long movie i would ever even consider giving five stars, and even then i went in ready to be pretty annoyed about it. its dense, narratively complex, and has such deep characterization that it calls for every single moment of its runtime. 

one of the very first examples of true prestige television and probably my favorite i’ve ever seen.

tony kushner is one of the best to ever do it and the whole cast is in tip top shape. the double and triple casting is unbelievable. meryl streep transforms into completely different people, al pacino gives what’s probably close to a career best, patrick wilson is a surprise standout and jeffrey wright is basically perfect. it’s a lineup of heavy hitters all working at like full capacity on my favorite script ever.

even beyond the writing and performances, this thing is a masterclass. i think oftentimes cinematography in play adaptations can be lacking because its adapting a staged narrative, but here it’s so fluid and surreal and blends so seamlessly that it feels like this was always meant for the screen. 

unbelievably real and strikingly beautiful. deeply funny and utterly devastating. i can’t even begin to explain everything that works here. this thing addresses so many themes so well. kushner tackles queerness, AIDS, Reaganism, religion, politics, modern relationships, independence, identity, sex, addiction, death, and life. many, many strands woven together expertly, and somehow it never feels convoluted or bogged down. it’s just real. 

oh and fuck roy cohn. like fr deeply and historically. fuck roy cohn forever.
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Diego Miller
Diego MillerPRO
Angels in America
Around the halfway point this starts to feel so much bigger, we start with a story about a few people and move into watching the entire world cracked open. Illness as a brutal test of connection. People will either rise to it or completely fold and the show doesn’t soften that. Prior is carrying something ancient, not just his own pain but everyone’s refusal to face theirs. That tension between staying present and running away, sits under everything and gives even the smallest scenes a kind of weight that doesn’t let up. The way it shifts from reality to whatever the fuck you want to call everything else is unreal. One second you’re in a hospital room and the next Emma Thompson is an angel crashing through the ceiling, never does that feel like a gimmick. It all exists on the same emotional plane, the hallucinations are just another way of telling the truth. The staging leans right into that, nothing hidden, nothing polished and it makes it all the more honest. It’s confrontational in how honest it is, it wants you to sit with the mechanics while still getting fully swept up in it. And then it leans into the bigger ideas, god leaving, the fear of progress, the idea that moving forward might destroy it all, it never feels like waffle. It’s urgent, it’s asking questions it genuinely doesn’t have answers for. The whole thing is heavily anchored by the performances, all of which are doing an insane amount of work to hold something this chaotic together. Characters needing to shift between grounded and ridiculously heightened without warning and not one of them loses themselves in it. I could go on and on singling them all out, but that would almost feel like a disservice to Justin Kirk, who carries prior like a man being hollowed out in real time, every line trembling with fear, humour and something prophetic and never losing the fragile human underneath it. One of the most nuanced and emotionally precise performances you’ll ever see. The writing gives them all so much to chew on, long stretches of dialogue that could so easily collapse under their own weight, but when it clicks it’s fucking electric, and it almost always clicks. Hillarious in places you don’t expect, devastating when you think you have got a handle on it and constantly pushing forward even when it feels like everything is falling apart. What a fucking ending man. I’m left sitting here with this strange mix of exhaustion and clarity. 

The messenger has arrived.
Around the halfway point this starts to feel so much bigger, we start with a story about a few people and move into watching the entire world cracked open. Illness as a brutal test of connection. People will either rise to it or completely fold and the show doesn’t soften that. Prior is carrying something ancient, not just his own pain but everyone’s refusal to face theirs. That tension between staying present and running away, sits under everything and gives even the smallest scenes a kind of weight that doesn’t let up. The way it shifts from reality to whatever the fuck you want to call everything else is unreal. One second you’re in a hospital room and the next Emma Thompson is an angel crashing through the ceiling, never does that feel like a gimmick. It all exists on the same emotional plane, the hallucinations are just another way of telling the truth. The staging leans right into that, nothing hidden, nothing polished and it makes it all the more honest. It’s confrontational in how honest it is, it wants you to sit with the mechanics while still getting fully swept up in it. And then it leans into the bigger ideas, god leaving, the fear of progress, the idea that moving forward might destroy it all, it never feels like waffle. It’s urgent, it’s asking questions it genuinely doesn’t have answers for. The whole thing is heavily anchored by the performances, all of which are doing an insane amount of work to hold something this chaotic together. Characters needing to shift between grounded and ridiculously heightened without warning and not one of them loses themselves in it. I could go on and on singling them all out, but that would almost feel like a disservice to Justin Kirk, who carries prior like a man being hollowed out in real time, every line trembling with fear, humour and something prophetic and never losing the fragile human underneath it. One of the most nuanced and emotionally precise performances you’ll ever see. The writing gives them all so much to chew on, long stretches of dialogue that could so easily collapse under their own weight, but when it clicks it’s fucking electric, and it almost always clicks. Hillarious in places you don’t expect, devastating when you think you have got a handle on it and constantly pushing forward even when it feels like everything is falling apart. What a fucking ending man. I’m left sitting here with this strange mix of exhaustion and clarity. 

The messenger has arrived.
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Amy
Amy
Angels in America
Everyone In their life should watch this at least once
Everyone In their life should watch this at least once
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