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Opening Night

Play trailer 4:43 Poster for Opening Night PG-13 1977 2h 24m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
96% Tomatometer 27 Reviews 89% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Actress Myrtle Gordon (Gena Rowlands) is a functioning alcoholic actress 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 find 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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Opening Night

Opening Night

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Critics Consensus

Opening Night is as dense and difficult as one would expect from John Cassavetes, but even the director's detractors will be unable to deny the power of Gena Rowlands' performance.

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Critics Reviews

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Adam Kempenaar Filmspotting Mar 23, 2019
4/5
Tying back to A Woman Under the Influence... [Cassavetes] explores what happens when women don't play their prescribed roles. Go to Full Review Richard Brody The New Yorker Jul 5, 2016
Cassavetes's most cleverly constructed film is also a definitive lesson in the death-defying, all-consuming art of acting, proof of a madness beyond the Method. Go to Full Review Variety Staff Variety Jul 28, 2008
Gena Rowlands turns in another virtuoso performance as the troubled actress. Cassavetes' highly personal work will please his coterie of enthusiasts, but for general audiences it will be viewed as shrill, puzzling, depressing and overlong. Go to Full Review David Schwartz Screen Slate Aug 24, 2026
Opening Night’s stature has steadily grown in the years since its release. Go to Full Review Justine Smith Vague Visages Jun 6, 2024
As the film progresses, the truth comes to the surface, and it hits with bludgeoning force. Go to Full Review Josh Larsen LarsenOnFilm Mar 14, 2019
3.5/4
Rowlands takes the movie by the throat... Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jasmine W @jasniquejewels Aug 31, 2026 gena rowlands acting never fails to amaze me! this film was outstanding and fascinating to watch this is definitely up there with my favorite cassavetes films. See more thiago S @Thiagostone May 4, 2026 Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom See more Leprechaun K @LeprechaunKing Mar 29, 2026 Another classic by Cassavetes. Great performance by Rowlands as always. Cassavetes is a master of capturing emotional intensity. The film is long but rewarding. See more Chelsea C @Tuzinelda Jan 28, 2026 I saw this movie at Alamo this week. I checked the reviews here before I went and I am so perplexed how its reviews are so high. Opening Night is sloppy and lazy. Most of the characters are very poorly written, and there were many missed opportunities to explore anything substantial. The older female playwright was given a very disrespectful amount of creative attention. This movie wishes it was about an actress aging, it sure says it is. But it isn’t. It’s more about alcoholism and it isn’t saying anything interesting about that. The play we are asked to believe was being produced had minimal thought given to it, and we suffer through multiple rounds of meandering off tone improv. It’s unclear what the play even needed to be from the beginning, because I think Cassavetes didn’t make those choices. Perhaps, the main character, like Cassavetes, can get away with doing bad work because they are or were beautiful. And the emperor can have no clothes as long as they once were a star. See more Rare T @RT00283363 Sep 10, 2024 Very well filmed and acted out. See more Charles B @RT57688612 Jul 13, 2024 fell asleep in parts of the movie so I had a hard time following the plot. but it was quite intense. The movie projects lots of authentic emotion which is more than can be said for most movies See more Read all reviews
Opening Night

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Cast & Crew

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John Cassavetes

Director

Gena Rowlands

Myrtle Gordon

Ben Gazzara

Manny Victor

Joan Blondell

Sarah Goode

John Cassavetes

Maurice Aarons

Paul Stewart

David Samuels

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Opening Night

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Opening Night

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Movie Info

Synopsis Actress Myrtle Gordon (Gena Rowlands) is a functioning alcoholic actress 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 find the answers she is after. As opening night inches closer and closer, fragile Myrtle must find a way to make the show go on.
Director
John Cassavetes
Producer
Al Ruban
Screenwriter
John Cassavetes
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 25, 1977, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 29, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA)
$10.5K
Runtime
2h 24m
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