Jacob's Ladder (1990)

Jacob’s Ladder (1990) follows Jacob Singer, a haunted Vietnam veteran and New York postal worker, as he struggles to piece together a life undone by grief, guilt, and traumatic memories. Tormented by the death of his young son Gabe, invasive flashbacks to his tour in Vietnam, and increasingly terrifying hallucinations, Jacob slips between waking life and nightmarish visions while a shadowy conspiracy seems to stalk him. As he chases answers — and tries to hold on to his marriage, friendships, and sanity — the line between reality and delusion steadily dissolves. Watching the film is a disorienting, hallucinatory experience: expect abrupt cuts, unnerving sound design, and surreal sequences that blur memory, dream, and paranoia. The mood is a slow-burn mixture of grief-driven drama and psychological horror, anchored by a tense mystery about what is really happening to Jacob. Ultimately the movie explores trauma, mortality, and the search for meaning and redemption, leaving viewers unsettled, emotionally moved, and thinking long after the final scene.

Actors: Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, Danny Aiello

Director: Adrian Lyne

Runtime: 113 min

Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery

6.8 /10 62 /100 7.4 /10 6.8 /10