The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
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Three estranged brothers embark on a spiritual journey across India on a luxury train following their father's death.
The story
The plot follows three estranged brothers who agree to meet in India a year after their father's funeral for a "spiritual journey" aboard a luxury train. On the train, Peter reunites with his brothers, Francis and Jack, who have not seen each other since their father's funeral a year earlier. Francis, the eldest, whose head is covered in bandages after a near-fatal motorcycle accident, wishes to reconcile with his brothers on a journey of spiritual self-discovery. He has drawn up a strict itinerary for the trip and has confiscated his brothers' passports to prevent them from getting off the train too early as they travel through the countryside to various Hindu and Sikh temples.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In India, Peter reunites with his brothers, Francis and Jack, on a luxury train called "The Darjeeling Limited" one year after their father's funeral. Francis, seeking spiritual self-discovery and secretly searching for their mother, Patricia, enforces a strict itinerary and confiscates their passports. As they travel to various temples, tension rises between the brothers. Francis eventually reveals he is seeking their mother, who has become a nun in the Himalayas. A physical altercation leads to their ejection from the train. After a period of separation, they encounter a tragic accident involving children in the wilderness. They eventually decide to visit their mother at a convent. After a confrontation with her, they reconcile and decide to leave. They eventually find each other at a station and board the "Bengal Lancer," discarding their father's belongings and choosing to move forward together.
- First release year
- 2007
- Runtime (minutes)
- 91
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Wes Anderson
- Writers
- Wes Anderson · writer; Roman Coppola · writer; Jason Schwartzman · writer
- Cast and characters
- Owen Wilson; Adrien Brody; Jason Schwartzman; Waris Ahluwalia; Amara Karan; Wallace Wolodarsky; Barbet Schroeder; Anjelica Huston; Natalie Portman; Camilla Rutherford; Irrfan Khan; Bill Murray
- Genres
- comedy-drama; road comedy-drama; adventure comedy-drama
- Themes
- grief; reconciliation; family dynamics; letting go
- Tone and mood
- lyrical melancholy; humor; sorrow
- Premise and plot tags
- road movie; spiritual journey; dysfunctional family
- Reception
- The film received generally favorable reviews from critics.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 69% · scale: percentage · review count: 193; Rotten Tomatoes · score: 6.7 · scale: 10; Metacritic · score: 67 · scale: 100 · review count: 35
- Awards and nominations
- Top Films of the Year · NYFCO Awards · 2007 · nominated
- Production trivia
- The film features a prologue titled 'Anderson's Hotel Chevalier'.; The soundtrack features music by Satyajit Ray.; The film was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray by Criterion in 2025.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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