What is the Metascore for Ikiru?

Ikiru has a Metascore of 79 out of 100 on Celluloid.

Where can I watch Ikiru?

Ikiru is available on HBO Max, The Criterion Channel. Availability varies by region — check your local streaming guide.

What countries is Ikiru streaming in?

Ikiru streams on U-NEXT in Japan; BFI Player in the United Kingdom; HBO Max, The Criterion Channel in the United States. Subscription availability only; rental and purchase options may differ.

Drama

Ikiru

Item: Ikiru
Rating: 4
Author: Kaiser Khan

Directed by Akira Kurosawa · 1952 · Last reviewed August 31, 2026

LLM fact sheet (.md)

Answer Summary

Ikiru (1952) earns a 82% Celluloid Score — Recommended. Recommended — recommended by most critics and audiences.Critics and audiences are closely aligned on this one.

Quick Verdict

Calculated from 4 available inputs: Celluloid editorial rating, Metascore, Letterboxd and IMDb. Audience sentiment is shown separately and never changes the composite. See how we calculate scores.

82%

Celluloid Score Recommended

4-input transparent breakdown

85% Editorial Rating

87% Audience snapshot · excluded

79 Metascore

★★★★☆ Letterboxd 4

8.3 IMDb /10

Watch Trailer

Runtime: 2h 23m
Cast: Takashi Shimura , Haruo Tanaka , Nobuo Kaneko , Bokuzen Hidari , Miki Odagiri , Shinichi Himori , Minoru Chiaki , Minosuke Yamada , Kamatari Fujiwara , Makoto Kobori
Streaming: HBO Max, The Criterion Channel
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese

Official theatrical poster for Ikiru (1952)

Theatrical release

Where to watch

HBO Max
The Criterion Channel

Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube, Fandango at Home

Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube, Fandango at Home

Where to watch Ikiru by country

Country	Streaming on
Japan	U-NEXT
United Kingdom	BFI Player
United States	HBO Max, The Criterion Channel

Subscription availability, refreshed from TMDB. Rental and purchase options may differ.

Why this score?

Celluloid's editorial rating is positive (85/100).
General viewers mostly liked it (87%).
Metascore is generally favorable (79/100).
Letterboxd diarists rate it highly (4/5).
IMDb users score it 8.3/10.

Best for

Viewers who want a well-regarded drama pick

Not ideal for

Scores reflect data indexed at build time. Component sources are shown on this page; Celluloid Score is our composite, not a third-party trademark. Scoring policy

Streaming availability, artwork and title metadata courtesy of TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.

Is Ikiru worth watching?

Yes — Ikiru earns a 82% Celluloid Score. Recommended — recommended by most critics and audiences.

Celluloid Verdict

IMDb Top 250 #95 (8.3/10) — Ikiru remains one of the most highly rated films of all time.
Celluloid editorial verdict

Critics and audiences are closely aligned on this one.

What is Ikiru about?

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

Watch the Trailer

Critic Reviews

critic Ikiru

Ikiru (1952) Review: Kurosawa’s Instruction to Live

★★★★☆ 4/5

Takashi Shimura’s dying bureaucrat tries to mean something — a playground, a stack of forms, and still one of the most moving films ever made about wasted time.

Essential — a humanist landmark, not a homework assignment.

Ikiru stills

Official production imagery supplied through TMDB, kept with the movie instead of split into a thin gallery page.

Images courtesy of TMDB. TMDB does not endorse or certify Celluloid.

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