A Woman Under the Influence

A married couple weather the tumultuous emotional rollercoaster of family life, love and madness.

L.A. housewife Mabel Longhetti is having a bad day. Her plans for a date night at home with her husband Nick are slowly coming unstuck. While she frantically prepares her three boisterous children to spend a night at their grandmother’s, her husband Nick is desperately trying to get out of his foreman job so he can be with her. A burst water main means he must cancel at the very last minute and Mabel is left all alone, triggering a series of events that will test their bond, their family and Mabel’s already fragile grip on her sanity.

Curator’s note
Independent filmmaking maverick John Cassavetes initially conceived the film as a play for his wife and frequent collaborator, Gena Rowlands. However, he pivoted to making a feature when he realised the intensity of the role would be too much to perform on a nightly basis. Using recordings of their family life as a basis for the dialogue and driven by two committed performances from Rowlands and co-star Peter Falk, A Woman Under the Influence is the ultimate summation of a filmmaker who played by his own rules.

Lynne Ramsay has directly cited Cassavetes’ intense rumination on marriage and madness as an influence on her 2025 film, Die My Love. Both films examine the painful, messy nature of love and centre on a raw and visceral depiction of a woman falling apart.