Overview
A poignant exploration of resilience and creativity in the face of adversity.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- melancholic
- austere
- compassionate
- reflective viewing
- literary film night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Jane Campion's carefully observed, emotionally powerful biography as an outstanding account of Janet Frame's artistic development and institutional suffering.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Janet's emergence as a novelist provides the emotional and thematic culmination of her resistance to family poverty, social judgment, and psychiatric confinement.
The film devotes substantial attention to Janet's large poor family, early difference, education, and the experiences that inform her later writing.
Janet is labeled abnormal and spends eight years in a mental institution, making institutional power central to the biography.
The story follows Janet through 1920s and 1930s New Zealand communities, family life, schooling, and institutional settings.
Films like An Angel at My Table, and why
Frida
female-centered biographical drama exploring artistic identity, social constraint, and psychological vulnerability
The Hours
literary-minded period drama about a woman resisting oppressive institutions through creative expression
Bright Star
intimate coming-of-age biography centered on a writer's difficult path toward artistic self-definition
Girl, Interrupted
emotionally rigorous female-led drama about mental illness, institutionalization, and personal agency
Movie Details
- Director
- Jane Campion
- Release Date
- 1990-09-20
- Runtime
- 158 min
- Rating
- 7.0 / 10 (194)
Cast
- Kerry Fox
- Alexia Keogh
- Karen Fergusson
- Iris Churn
- Jessie Mune
- Kevin J. Wilson
- Edith Campion
- Francesca Collins
- Melina Bernecker
- Mark Morrison
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- HBO Max Amazon Channel
- 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 An Angel at My Table about?
- A poor and unconventional New Zealand girl survives social judgment and psychiatric confinement to find freedom through writing.
- What is An Angel at My Table like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of An Angel at My Table as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is An Angel at My Table violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in An Angel at My Table as mild.
- What did critics think of An Angel at My Table?
- Critics broadly regard Jane Campion's carefully observed, emotionally powerful biography as an outstanding account of Janet Frame's artistic development and institutional suffering.
- Which films are like An Angel at My Table?
- Films with a similar feel include Frida, The Hours, Bright Star, and Girl, Interrupted.
- How long is An Angel at My Table?
- An Angel at My Table runs 158 minutes.
- Where can I watch An Angel at My Table?
- In United States, An Angel at My Table streams on HBO Max Amazon Channel.
