Do you want to see ‘3 Women’?

Add to Netflix

3 Women (1977)

tomatometer

All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 7.9/10
Reviews Counted: 22
Fresh: 21 | Rotten: 1

No consensus yet.

Average Rating: 7.1/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 1

No consensus yet.

audience

liked it
Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 5,916

My Rating

Added to your Facebook Timeline. — undo

Movie Info

Robert Altman's Three Women takes a surreal, improvisational and rather eerie look at the lives of three women in a western desert town. The plot centers around the youngest of the women, Pinky (Sissy Spacek), an eccentric, withdrawn woman trying to begin a new life. She finds work as an attendant at a hot springs spa catering to the elderly and infirm. There she befriends her co-worker Millie (Shelley Duvall), an equally strange but more outgoing woman; the two bond, and are soon sharing an

PG, 2 hr. 5 min.

Drama

Directed By: Robert Altman

In Theaters: Apr 3, 1977 Wide

On DVD: Apr 20, 2004

Cast

Shelley Duvall
Millie, Millie Lammorea...
Sissy Spacek
Pinky, Pinky Rose
Janice Rule
Willie
Robert Fortier
Edgar
Ruth Nelson
Mrs. Rose
John Cromwell
Mr. Rose
Sierra Pecheur
Bunweill
Craig Richard Nelson
Mr. Maas
Maisie Hoy
Doris
Beverly Ross
Deirdre
John Davey
Dr. Norton
Leslie Ann Hudson
Polly
Patricia Ann Hudson
Peggy
Belita Moreno
Alcira

Critic Reviews for 3 Women

All Critics (24) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (24) | Rotten (1) | DVD (16)

Like a dream, it is most mysterious and allusive when it appears to be most precise and direct, when its images are of the recognizable world unretouched (as happens in the film from time to time) by camera filters or lab technicians.

May 9, 2005 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Vincent Canby

New York Times

Top Critic

I have seen it many times, been through it twice in shot-by-shot analysis, and yet it always seems to be happening as I watch it. Recurring dreams are like that.

March 5, 2005 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

| Comment

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

A spectacular artistic success.

June 4, 2004 Comment

Douglas Pratt

Hollywood Reporter

Top Critic

A gauzy, perfectly executed vacation in Doppelg�nger-burg.

June 25, 2002 Full Review Source: Village Voice

| Comment

Michael Atkinson

Village Voice

Top Critic

Robert Altman's would-be American art film (1977) is murky, snide, and sloppy.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

3 Women is definitely a slow burn of a movie, but it's also amazing how well it taps into and visualizes the subconscious. Nothing is spelled out by Altman, who wants the audience to interpret the film's meaning for themselves.

October 27, 2011 Full Review Source: Scene-Stealers.com

| Comment

Eric Melin

Scene-Stealers.com

If you've ever wanted to take the plunge into the deep end of Robert Altman's brainpan, Criterion's impeccable Blu-ray transfer presents the ideal jumping-off point.

October 19, 2011 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comment

Budd Wilkins

Slant Magazine

Absorbing until it crashes in a tiresome manner trying to be too inexplicably symbolic.

January 16, 2011 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comment

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The first half...is some of Altman's best stuff. The second half downgrades into rather pretentious and dithering malarkey

September 6, 2010 Full Review Source: Cinema Writer

| Comment

Jay Antani

Cinema Writer

Either a maddening essay in pointlessness, or a deeply involving work that leaves the viewer unnerved and off-balance. Which response occurs depends entirely on the viewer.

April 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

| Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

An incisive portrait of psychological alienation.

May 3, 2005 Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness

| Comment

Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

Fascinating, elliptical and enigmantic ... authentic Altman. Altman.

February 18, 2005 Comment

Carol Cling

Las Vegas Review-Journal

[A] strange, beautiful and funny film.

June 7, 2004 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

| Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

Drawing similarities to the central relationship in Persona, Altman's impressionist work is difficult but, in its own way, sort of perfect.

May 5, 2004 Full Review | Comment

Mark Palermo

Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) Source: Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

[Altman] pushed even harder against the envelope and in the process created a highly unusual and wholly original picture.

April 28, 2004 Full Review Source: Creative Loafing

| Comment

Matt Brunson

Creative Loafing

Apparently, Robert "Hot Lips" Altman was ready to be reborn as Maya Deren. Eric Henderson (C) slant magazine, 2004.

April 22, 2004 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comment

Eric Henderson

Slant Magazine

3 Women is a daring piece of cinema that glides along the edge of weirdness and somehow manages not to fall off.

April 22, 2004 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comment

Eric Henderson

Slant Magazine

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for 3 Women

View All

Altman's surreal masterpiece and Shelley Duvall's greatest performance.

October 27, 2011

Graham Jones

Super Reviewer

Robert Altman's "3 Women" was conceived in a dream and subsequently structured like one. Obviously, this has it pros and cons. While I suspect there is no clear one meaning to the film, it should mean something different to each viewer. The acting on display here is top notch. Shelley Duvall and Sissy Spacek deliver

April 30, 2011