‎Images (1972) directed by Robert Altman • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Images

1972 Directed by Robert Altman

Schizophrenic housewife, engulfed by terrorizing apparitions, kills off each, unknowing if these demons are merely figments of her hallucinatory imagination or part of reality.

Susannah York Rene Auberjonois Marcel Bozzuffi Hugh Millais Cathryn Harrison John Morley Barbara Baxley

101 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Adam Cook ★★★★½ 10

Robert Altman is arguably most famous for his large ensemble dramas yet, for me, his most interesting work can often be found in his smaller and more experimental pictures like 3 Women, Secret Honor and the startling and criminally underseen, Images. Inspired by Bergman’s Persona and sharing a fair few similarities with Polanski’s Repulsion, Images is a film about fractured realities, repressed sexuality and extreme psychosis.

Susannah York stars as Cathryn, a children’s writer who is terrorised by phantoms, or so she thinks, as she attempts to write her new novel. Schizophrenic horror is nothing new in cinema (not even back in ‘72) but to Altman’s credit, whilst there are clear influences, he very much makes it his own. For…
Review by Dirk Diggler ★★★★½ 5

Part of the Film School Dropouts Challenge
Week 27: Robert Altman

An immersive, compelling and creepy tale of mental illness, desperation and sexuality that's unsettling throughout with its eerie and noisy score, striking editing (there's some awesome transitions in this), and its dream-like imagery. Its small-scaled, simple yet effective, and wholly atmospheric and expressive, it draws you into its dreamy, strange world and doesn't let go. Susannah York delivers an Oscar-worthy, energetic performance of a woman going through a mental breakdown, slowly loosing grip on reality, its through her fractured mind the film is seen. Man, those screams... haunting. Didn't know much about this one going in, but it has turned out to be one of my favorites from Altman. Fans of 3 Women would dig this as this gives a similar vibe, and is different from what Altman is known for. Give this one a restoration for christ sake, Criterion! It really deserves one. Its an overlooked gem.
Review by Jeff ★★★★ 2

One of the things I found refreshing about Robert Altman's Images was the fact that he doesn't play the is-she-or-isn't-she-crazy game that has become standard in today's psychological thrillers; Susannah York's character is pretty clearly in the throes of schizophrenia. So the viewer is left to parse out what is and isn't real, instead. Same type of movie, different flavor.

It's also a bit of a departure for Altman in that, while there is a quite a bit of dialog, it doesn't have the same manic, boisterous quality that is usually the case for him. He does manage to cram quite a few visual motifs in, but the obvious ones (mirrors, cameras) tend to work very well in the film,…
Review by Robert Beksinski ★★★½ 5

Possibly Altman's only horror film if one should consider it horror. Whilst the film is not scary per se other than John Williams unnerving score being plucked straight from that genre, it does carry main elements that make a horror movie (especially in the last act).

Suffice to say however my intuitions were correct in assuming this film to be a poor man's version of Polanski's Repulsion. Stylistically they are very different with Altman's film being more straight and narrow other than its dreamlike sequences of doppelgangers and past sexual forays. Polanski's is more aesthetically charged, more authentic and more horrifying ultimately being the better film.

I admired much of the film including the incorporation of Cathryn's past lovers and…
Review by Aaron Locke ★★★★½

Images is a lot of things, but what struck me the most is the way it exemplifies Robert Altman's talent for filmmaking. I'm a huge fan of Altman's loose method of storytelling, but to see him craft a really tight story supported by fantastic technical elements was a treat.

Hard not to compare this to films like 3 Women, Persona, A Woman Under the Influence, and Mulholland Drive. While I don't think it's necessarily as complex as those other films, it's so strong in its convictions that it doesn't matter.
Review by Chance ★★★★½ 4

Altman sure knew how to draw out compelling and eerie performances from women, be it Sandy Dennis in That Cold Day in the Park or Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Janice Rule in 3 Women, but Susannah York's performance in Images goes beyond the realm of eerie. Images as a whole is beyond eerie. It's arguably Altman's only true horror film, full of psychological ghosts, but most of his films have always had a touch of menace.

Smaller in scale than most Altman films, Images is a tightly-crafted shocker with weaving reality and unreality. Absolutely nothing can be taken at face value. There's a moment when Cathryn (Susannah York) is standing on the edge of a cliff looking down at…

Recent reviews

Review by joe cross ★★★★½

i have a thing for films that deal with doppelgängers and dream logic and also films by robert altman so of course i loved this.
a hallucinatory fever nightmare of a movie, and one of the most downright terrifying things i've ever seen. susannah york is unbelievable. robert altman's early 70s run is unmatched in all of film, probably.
Review by Corey ★★★

Love the surreal aspects of this a lot and how we never can fully trust the images as being definite truth as our perceptions of reality are being played with by Altman. It burns slowly and with precise direction, we are kept immersed within the picture.
Review by Autumn ★★★★½

Oddly enough, I have the Susannah York book, "In Search of Unicorns" tucked away somewhere (I bought it randomly at a library sale when I was like 12 because it reminded me of the animated movie,"The Last Unicorn.") I don't think I've ever read it, but now I feel compelled to. Interesting how Altman meshed two seemingly unrelated things here (a children's fantasy book & a woman's terror of her own mind). Most unsettling, effective off-kilter score in recent memory. That scene of her first glimpse at herself on the hill combined with the eerie, vaguely Native American sounding chimes could've come directly from one of my more disturbing nightmares.

I feel like a tiny fragment of my own darkness was healed after this. Thank you, Robert Altman.
Review by JWDM ★★★★

Film School Dropout Review # 26

A joy to watching films to me is that I can find hidden gems that most people haven't heard of and Images is one that needs to be seen more often.

The storytelling that is displayed in this film is one of a kind. I found it so interesting that a children book written by Susannah York can inspire a film like this when it comes to the narration of this film. I could mention more about the storytelling of this film, but this a film where the less an audience member know, the enjoyable the film is to the viewer.

In addition to the way the film is told plot wise, I found…
Review by Dirk Diggler ★★★★½ 5

Part of the Film School Dropouts Challenge
Week 27: Robert Altman

An immersive, compelling and creepy tale of mental illness, desperation and sexuality that's unsettling throughout with its eerie and noisy score, striking editing (there's some awesome transitions in this), and its dream-like imagery. Its small-scaled, simple yet effective, and wholly atmospheric and expressive, it draws you into its dreamy, strange world and doesn't let go. Susannah York delivers an Oscar-worthy, energetic performance of a woman going through a mental breakdown, slowly loosing grip on reality, its through her fractured mind the film is seen. Man, those screams... haunting. Didn't know much about this one going in, but it has turned out to be one of my favorites from Altman. Fans of 3 Women would dig this as this gives a similar vibe, and is different from what Altman is known for. Give this one a restoration for christ sake, Criterion! It really deserves one. Its an overlooked gem.
Review by Benjamin Harrison ★★★★

For some idiotic reason I went into this expecting something more or less resembling a conventional thriller. Uh, wrong, yeah, should've know better I guess. This is one of Bob's weird ones. It's very good.
Review by Irvin Malcolm ★★★★

This is a film that is mighty tough to describe. It's a psychological thriller/horror film about a woman struggling with schizophrenia as she sees her dead husband and her doppelgänger driving to may be murder. From the first few minutes, you are constantly questioning what is real and what is not and really keeps you on your toes and at the edge of your seat. This is an early work from director (and writer) Robert Altman. It's certainly one of his more unusual and weird films. It also features an awesomely weird score from John freakin' Williams of all people and a great performance from Susannah York. It's definitely one of Altman's more under-appreciated gems.
Review by Wiki_brah ★★★

A low key yet effectively creepy psychological horror film in a similar manner as Roman Polanski's Repulsion (1965), although not as good. Repulsion is still rightfully considered a classic; on the other hand, Images languishes in film obscurity.

Images was a British production and filmed on location in Ireland with some truly stunning and chilling scenery. The American director Robert Altman -- mostly known for his politically charged and darkly humorous ensemble pieces -- directed this film without much of a trace of his signature style.

And that is probably why I consider this relatively forgotten film, Images, as Robert Altman's best film!
Review by inri222 ★★★★

Robert Altman's psychological thriller about an author of children's books who starts to lose her grip on reality when she has visions about her former dead lover and a mysterious doppelganger. An interesting puzzle of a film that reminded me of Roman Polanski and Alain Resnais, with an excellent performance from Susannah York.