The Incredible Shrinking Woman
A suburban mother’s bizarre chemical exposure turns her into a miniature celebrity and the unwilling key to a mad scheme for shrinking the world.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Mild
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- None
- mischievous
- sardonic
- whimsical
- family movie night
- retro comedy night
What critics said
Critics found the film intermittently funny and visually inventive, but broadly uneven, meandering, and unable to sustain its comic premise.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Pat's transformation unfolds amid aggressively cheerful domestic spaces, household chemicals, advertising-like imagery, and a plot targeting mass society.
The film presents suburban America through hideously jolly colors, peach blazers, and paint-chart-like production design.
Pat's shrinking directly disrupts parenting, household routines, scientific authority, and public attention.
A group seeking world domination plots to kidnap Pat and study her shrinking in order to shrink everyone.
Films like The Incredible Shrinking Woman, and why
The Incredible Shrinking Man
shared shrinking-person premise, science fiction comedy, and playful suburban satire
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
shared family-friendly science fiction, broad comic invention, and an ordinary person transformed by an extraordinary event
Pleasantville
shared satirical comedy, surreal visual exaggeration, and critique of consumerist suburban culture
The Cat from Outer Space
shared eccentric science fiction premise, family accessibility, and warm comic tone
Movie Details
- Director
- Joel Schumacher
- Release Date
- 1981-01-30
- Runtime
- 88 min
- Rating
- 5.4 / 10 (124)
Cast
- Lily Tomlin
- Charles Grodin
- Ned Beatty
- Henry Gibson
- Elizabeth Wilson
- Mark Blankfield
- Maria Smith
- Pamela Bellwood
- John Glover
- Nicholas Hormann
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Incredible Shrinking Woman about?
- A suburban mother’s bizarre chemical exposure turns her into a miniature celebrity and the unwilling key to a mad scheme for shrinking the world.
- What is The Incredible Shrinking Woman like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Incredible Shrinking Woman as measured, its intensity as mild and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is The Incredible Shrinking Woman violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in The Incredible Shrinking Woman.
- What did critics think of The Incredible Shrinking Woman?
- Critics found the film intermittently funny and visually inventive, but broadly uneven, meandering, and unable to sustain its comic premise.
- Which films are like The Incredible Shrinking Woman?
- Films with a similar feel include The Incredible Shrinking Man, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Pleasantville, and The Cat from Outer Space.
- How long is The Incredible Shrinking Woman?
- The Incredible Shrinking Woman runs 88 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Incredible Shrinking Woman?
- In United States, The Incredible Shrinking Woman is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
