1955 / 89m - USA
Romance, Drama
1.0*/5.0*
All That Heaven Allows poster

Watches

December 31, 2022

1.0*/5.0*

Heavy, thick, classic American melodrama. This is only my second Sirk, but it seems to be a pretty good summary of his more famous work. I'm not sure how it has survived the times, these films definitely feel like something out of a distant past that should've been buried a long time ago, but here we are.

Cary is a rich, older widow who falls for the charms of Ron, a younger man who doesn't belong to the same class she does. Her children aren't happy when they get engaged and her social circle doesn't really approve either. They split up, but their love runs deep and when they aren't together, they feel pretty unhappy.

The performances and the direction are both very heavy-handed. The plot isn't that interesting, the overpowering music and tortured expressions of the characters don't do it much justice either. At least the film is quite short and properly paced, but other than that, the film has few redeeming qualities.