Add your email and we'll match picks to the services you stream at home.

Poster for Cleaner

1995 | 96 min | Crime, Thriller

Weeknight Watchearly rating

Why it’s a Weeknight Watch

It's still drawing plenty of interest, but a box office flop and middling reviews (17% on Rotten Tomatoes) held it back. Fine if it's on; don't plan your night around it.

Based on critics, audiences, awards, box office and buzz. Details below.

Is it for you?

Who'll love it
Made for crime fans and anyone who likes to be kept guessing. If you loved Sin City or Pulp Fiction, start here.
The mood
Tense, gritty.
The pace
Fast-moving, at 1 hr 36 min.
What might put you off
Nothing much for most grown-ups.

The arms company PLY-Industries suddenly has every reason to be concerned: dozens of employees in the bacteriological war research department are unknowingly infected with the new psycho-drug "Return-3". When the side effects, such as anxiety and hysteria, manifest themselves in telepathic abilities, the company takes action. A mass layoff is followed by a veritable purge. Specially hired hit squads are tasked with clearing out the infected before they can jeopardize the company's monopoly position and image. One of these killers, Verve Helios, penetrates deeper and deeper into a swamp of drugs, violence and perversion during his "jobs". Helios, the "Cleaner", discards all forms of discipline and conscience and becomes a major threat to everyone involved...

How it earned its rating

  • CriticsBelow par

    17% on Rotten Tomatoes, 49 on Metacritic

  • AudiencesNot counted

    Not measured yet: not enough ratings

  • AwardsNot counted

    Awards data unavailable, so this isn't counted

  • Box office & staying powerWeak

    $8 million worldwide

  • Buzz & cultural impactStrong

    About 319K people sought it out in the past year

More like this

Want more like this, picked just for you? Get my picks

Cast & crew

Directed by Fabian Klatura

  • Philipp Schiemann
  • Chris Forster
  • H.P. Tillmann
  • Frank Appenroth
  • Rainer Holtappels