Guillermo del Toro

There is a heavy Mexican Catholic streak in my movies, and a huge Mexican sense of melodrama. Everything is overwrought, and there's a sense of acceptance of the fantastic in my films, which is innately Mexican. So when people ask, 'How can you define the Mexican-ness of your films?' I go, 'How can I not?' It's all I am.

Mexican Director

Jennifer Yuh Nelson

If you have a movie that doesn't strive to go to a certain emotional point, you can do anything and it will be fine and funny. But if you have something pretty emotional at its core, you have to make it right. You don't want it overwrought or unearned. Everything has to be moving towards this one thing.

South Korean Director

Andrew W.K.

You're not alone' can be a great thing to hear when you're feeling quite despondent and alienated from the world and yourself. But if you're someone who's been completely overwrought with the intensity of life and the world, getting some space to be alone can be one of the things you crave most.

American Musician

Dennis Prager

I have never written that there is a threat of fascism in America. I always considered the idea overwrought. But now I believe there really is such a threat - and it will come draped not in an American flag, but in the name of tolerance and health.

American Journalist

Ellen Datlow

Despite the fact that he's been dead for over seventy years and his prose considered purple and overwrought by many, H.P. Lovecraft's work is still widely read and has remained influential for generations.

American Editor

China Mieville

I think there's something quite interesting about the almost tragic quality of a lot of overwrought prose, because it has a much more self-conscious awareness of its own failure to touch the real.

English Writer

Jane Haddam

You've either got to find a way to make your continuing characters insteresting without making them maudlin or overwrought, or you've got to put more emphasis on the suspects.

American Writer

Kara Walker

My work is really abject and self-effacing sometimes. I mean, it's big and overwrought, but it's just paper dolls, and it's kind of silly.

American Artist

Robin Marantz Henig

The tenuousness of modern life can make anyone feel overwrought.

Writer

Sufjan Stevens

I always hated 'O Holy Night.' It's so operatic and overwrought.

Suggests an overwhelming level of emotion that's hard to control.

Emotional Intensity

Often used to express negative emotional states, rarely positive ones.

Negative Feelings

Indicates a reaction beyond what's normally expected.

Extreme Reaction

Refers to something with more decoration or complexity than usual.

Excessive Detail

Used in art to describe work seen as too elaborate or lacking in subtlety.

Art Criticism

Implies that the complexity may be overwhelming to the senses.

Visual Complexity

Communicates a state of being full of nervous energy or tension.

Nervous Energy

The person might not show it, but 'overwrought' suggests inner turmoil.

Not Always Visible

Commonly used when someone can't cope well with a stressful situation.

Overwrought