The Emperor's Club (2002): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 2002, The Emperor's Club is a drama and romance film directed by Michael Hoffman, running about 108 minutes. “In everyone's life there's that one person who makes all the difference.” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. William Hundert is a passionate and principled Classics professor who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken and inexorably altered when a new student, Sedgewick Bell, walks into his classroom. What begins as a fierce battle of wills gives way to a close student-teacher relationship, but results in a life lesson for Hundert that will still haunt him a quarter of a century later.

Who’s in it. The Emperor's Club stars Kevin Kline as William Hundert, Emile Hirsch as Sedgewick Bell, Embeth Davidtz as Elizabeth and Purva Bedi as Anna Mehta, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 7.0/10, The Emperor's Club has been warmly received by audiences. It went on to earn $16.3M at the box office.

Where to watch. In US you can rent or buy it from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies and YouTube. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch The Emperor's Club page.

If you liked it. Fans of The Emperor's Club tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.