8mm is a 1999 crime thriller film directed by Joel Schumacher, written by Andrew Kevin Walker, and starring Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare, Anthony Heald, and Catherine Keener. The film follows a private investigator who is hired to research the origins of an alleged snuff film uncovered by the widowed matriarch of a wealthy family. Despite being selected for the Golden Bear and receiving standing ovations from audiences at the Berlin International Film Festival, the film received mostly negative reviews from critics due to its excessively violent and disturbing content.