Taking Lives poster

Taking Lives (2004)

Film · 1h 43m · Rated R

Thriller

An FBI profiler hunts a serial killer who steals victims' identities, racing against time with a single eyewitness.

Suspenseful and tense. A full-attention watch at a brisk pace. Emotionally it carries some weight.

Not on a US subscription service as of Oct 28, 2026.

Taking Lives parents guide

Moderate sex and nudity, and strong violence, about what an R should carry.

Scare
Mildly scary
A few tense or eerie moments.
Jump scares
A couple
One or two sudden jolts.
Gore
Light gore
Some blood or injury, briefly.
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
Moderate
Some strong profanity, a few f-words.

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 Taking Lives scary?
Only a little. Taking Lives has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.
How gory is Taking Lives?
Light gore and strong violence.
What is Taking Lives rated, and is it OK for kids?
No. It is rated R, with moderate sex and nudity, strong violence, and some strong language.

What is Taking Lives about?

Recruited to assist Montreal police in their desperate search for a serial killer who assumes the identities of his victims, FBI profiler Illeana Scott knows it's only a matter of time before the killer strikes again. Her most promising lead is a museum employee who might be the killer's only eyewitness.

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

There is a twist, and that is all we are saying.

Cast and crew

Directed byD.J. Caruso
StarringAngelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland, Gena Rowlands, Olivier Martinez, Tchéky Karyo

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