Layer Cake poster

Layer Cake (2004)

Film · 1h 45m · Rated R

Crime, Drama, Thriller

A smooth criminal's retirement plan unravels into a gritty, suspenseful fight for survival in London's underworld.

Pulpy. A full-attention watch at a brisk pace. Emotionally it is heavy.

Streaming on Tubi (free).

Layer Cake parents guide

Nothing past what an R promises: moderate sex and nudity, and strong violence.

Scare
Mildly scary
A few tense or eerie moments.
Jump scares
None noted
Gore
Graphic gore
Blood and wounds shown clearly.
Violence
Strong violence
Violence is frequent or intense.
Sex and nudity
Moderate
Moderate means a sex scene or nudity on screen, even brief, or sexual violence that is described or implied but never shown.
Language
Strong
Frequent strong profanity or slurs.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

Is Layer Cake scary?
Only a little. Layer Cake has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.
How gory is Layer Cake?
Graphic gore and strong violence. If graphic gore is a dealbreaker, skip it.
What is Layer Cake rated, and is it OK for kids?
Moderate sex and nudity, strong violence, and frequent strong language. The R is earned, so not for kids.

What is Layer Cake about?

When a seemingly straight-forward drug deal goes awry, XXXX has to break his die-hard rules and turn up the heat, not only to outwit the old regime and come out on top, but to save his own skin...

Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)

It leaves the ending open to interpretation.

Cast and crew

Directed byMatthew Vaughn
StarringDaniel Craig, Sienna Miller, Tom Hardy, Colm Meaney, George Harris, Sally Hawkins

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Layer Cake is on our Noir and neo-noir, Thriller on Tubi and Crime on Tubi lists.

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Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.