Overview
A gripping exploration of love and mental health in a turbulent marriage.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- tense
- melancholic
- harrowing
- serious film night
- classic cinema viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a landmark of independent American cinema, led by searing performances from Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk, though some object to its excessive length and heightened portrayal of psychosis.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Mabel and Nick's marriage repeatedly shifts between tenderness, rage, embarrassment, and desperate attempts at normality.
Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk sustain exhausting confrontations and fragile moments of affection across extended scenes.
Mabel's behavior is evaluated by her husband, relatives, friends, and institutions against norms of respectable motherhood and domestic order.
The Longhetti household and its surrounding social circle anchor the film's intimate crises in blue-collar Los Angeles life.
Films like A Woman Under the Influence, and why
Faces
intense domestic drama, psychologically exposed performances, and uncompromising naturalism
Scenes from a Marriage
volatile marital conflict, improvisatory acting, and emotionally raw american independent filmmaking
The Three Christs
portrait of mental illness through intimate domestic relationships and devastating performances
Movie Details
- Director
- John Cassavetes
- Release Date
- 1974-11-18
- Runtime
- 155 min
- Rating
- 7.7 / 10 (581)
Cast
- Gena Rowlands
- Peter Falk
- Fred Draper
- Lady Rowlands
- Katherine Cassavetes
- Matthew Labyorteaux
- Matthew Cassel
- Christina Grisanti
- George Dunn
- Mario Gallo
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is A Woman Under the Influence about?
- An emotionally ferocious portrait of a Los Angeles marriage struggling to survive mental illness, social judgment, and the demands of family life.
- What is A Woman Under the Influence like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of A Woman Under the Influence as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is A Woman Under the Influence violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in A Woman Under the Influence as mild.
- What did critics think of A Woman Under the Influence?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a landmark of independent American cinema, led by searing performances from Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk, though some object to its excessive length and heightened portrayal of psychosis.
- Which films are like A Woman Under the Influence?
- Films with a similar feel include Faces, Scenes from a Marriage, and The Three Christs.
- How long is A Woman Under the Influence?
- A Woman Under the Influence runs 155 minutes.
- Where can I watch A Woman Under the Influence?
- In United States, A Woman Under the Influence streams on HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max.
