Overview
A woman's search for connection leads her down a dark path of choices and consequences.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- bleak
- intimate
- austere
- serious film night
- arthouse viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Barbara Loden's debut as a stark, compassionate, and formally distinctive portrait of female alienation and working-class dislocation.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Wanda drifts through bars, family spaces, and roadside encounters with little apparent agency or belonging.
The Pennsylvania rust-belt setting, sporadic employment, bars, and fractured household are presented with stark observational directness.
After leaving her family, Wanda moves through bars and travel routes before attaching herself to Mr. Dennis.
Wanda abandons domestic expectations and enters a criminal orbit without the film imposing a reassuring transformation.
Films like Wanda, and why
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
shared working-class realism, female-centered alienation, and austere social drama
Stranger Than Paradise
shared bleak road-movie structure, marginalized protagonists, and observational naturalism
The Florida Project
shared American independent realism, economic precarity, and emotionally detached character study
Thelma & Louise
shared female alienation, crime-adjacent desperation, and unsentimental social observation
Movie Details
- Director
- Barbara Loden
- Release Date
- 1970-09-01
- Runtime
- 103 min
- Rating
- 6.8 / 10 (164)
Cast
- Barbara Loden
- Michael Higgins
- Dorothy Shupenes
- Peter Shupenes
- Jerome Thier
- Marian Thier
- Valerie Mamches
- Anthony Rotell
- M.L. Kennedy
- Gerald Grippo
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- HBO Max Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Wanda about?
- A lonely Pennsylvania housewife drifts away from family life and into the precarious orbit of a petty thief.
- What is Wanda like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Wanda as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Wanda violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Wanda as mild.
- What did critics think of Wanda?
- Critics broadly regard Barbara Loden's debut as a stark, compassionate, and formally distinctive portrait of female alienation and working-class dislocation.
- Which films are like Wanda?
- Films with a similar feel include Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, Stranger Than Paradise, The Florida Project, and Thelma & Louise.
- How long is Wanda?
- Wanda runs 103 minutes.
- Where can I watch Wanda?
- In United States, Wanda streams on HBO Max Amazon Channel.
