Overview
Two dancers confront their choices and ambitions in a world where dreams collide.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- None
- emotional
- nostalgic
- intimate
- ballet night
- classic film night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as polished, emotionally engaging ballet drama with stunning performances and a strong ensemble, while some found its dialogue and turning-point premise overly mechanical.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Deedee reflects on leaving ballet to become a wife, mother, and ballet-school director while Emma remained a star.
The ballet company, rehearsals, performances, and professional dancers provide the film's central social world.
Emma and Deedee want what the other has, and their reunion revives jealousy, ambition, and old grievances.
Ballet performances and rehearsal sequences provide the film's principal visual and dramatic set pieces.
Films like The Turning Point, and why
Black Swan
shared ballet-world setting, artistic ambition, rivalry, and backstage drama
The Red Shoes
shared focus on dancers, professional sacrifice, romantic entanglements, and emotionally intense performance culture
All About Eve
shared themes of ambition, artistic identity, aging performers, and difficult personal choices
Movie Details
- Director
- Herbert Ross
- Release Date
- 1977-11-14
- Runtime
- 119 min
- Rating
- 6.6 / 10 (71)
Cast
- Anne Bancroft
- Shirley MacLaine
- Tom Skerritt
- Mikhail Baryshnikov
- Leslie Browne
- Martha Scott
- Antoinette Sibley
- Starr Danias
- Marshall Thompson
- James Mitchell
Common questions
- What is The Turning Point about?
- Two longtime friends confront jealousy, sacrifice, and the lives they might have led when ballet brings them together again.
- What is The Turning Point like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Turning Point as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is The Turning Point violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in The Turning Point.
- What did critics think of The Turning Point?
- Critics broadly praised the film as polished, emotionally engaging ballet drama with stunning performances and a strong ensemble, while some found its dialogue and turning-point premise overly mechanical.
- Which films are like The Turning Point?
- Films with a similar feel include Black Swan, The Red Shoes, and All About Eve.
- How long is The Turning Point?
- The Turning Point runs 119 minutes.
