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Movie
Poster for Opening Night

Opening Night

1977 · 144 min

Raw, uncomfortable and hypnotic, it pulls you inside a performer's unraveling with long, confrontational scenes and a haunting, unsteady emotional grip.

Directed by
John Cassavetes
Genres
Drama
Starring
Gena Rowlands, John Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara
Tagline
The Show Must Go On…
Overview
Actress Myrtle Gordon is a functioning alcoholic who is a few days from the opening night of her latest play, concerning a woman distraught about aging. One night a car kills one of Myrtle's fans who is chasing her limousine in an attempt to get the star's attention. Myrtle internalizes the accident and goes on a spiritual quest, but fails to finds the answers she is after. As opening night inches closer and closer, fragile Myrtle must find a way to make the show go on.

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In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
Directed by
John Cassavetes
Genres
Drama
Starring
Gena Rowlands, John Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • darkstrength 3 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • eeriestrength 2 of 3
Pacing
slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
demanding, 4 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • identity
  • aging
  • obsession
  • madness
  • grief
Places
  • big city
  • workplace
  • hospital
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Form
  • nonlinear
Content intensity
  • Gore mild
  • Language strong
  • Violence mild
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action2
Horror3
Humour3
Realism8
Romance3
Tension7
Darkness7
Complexity7
Emotional weight9

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
drama
Directed by
John Cassavetes
Written by
John Cassavetes
Starring
Gena Rowlands, John Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara, Joan Blondell, Paul Stewart, Zohra Lampert, Laura Johnson, John Tuell
Music
Bo Harwood
Cinematography
Al Ruban
Runtime
144 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English

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