3 Women

Critics Consensus

3 Women is a strange, eerie portrait of late-'70s womanhood that upends and then defies all expectations.

94%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 31

86%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 6,845

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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 The plot centers around the youngest of the women, Pinky (Sissy Spacek), an eccentric, withdrawn woman trying to begin a new life.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 apartment. Pinky becomes increasingly dependent on Millie, eventually adopting aspects of her personality and appearance. This obsessive attachment is threatened when Pinky discovers Millie with a man -- Edgar (Robert Fortier), the macho, faux-cowboy husband of local artist Willie (Janice Rule), the last of the title's three women. Pinky's subsequent, desperate actions precipitate the film's enigmatic conclusion, involving an unexpected series of confrontations and role reversals amongst the three women. This story tends to take a backseat to the elliptical, spooky imagery, particularly the desert landscapes, and the quirky performances -- not surprising, given that the film was reportedly shot without a full screenplay and inspired by Altman's own dreams. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
  • Rating:
    PG
  • Genre:
    Classics, Drama
  • Directed By:
    Robert Altman
  • Written By:
    Robert Altman
  • In Theaters:
     wide
  • On Disc/Streaming:
  • Runtime:
  • Studio:
    20th Century Fox

Cast

Shelley Duvall
as Millie Lammoreaux
Sissy Spacek
as Pinky Rose
Janice Rule
as Willie Hart
Robert Fortier
as Edgar Hart
Ruth Nelson
as Mrs. Rose
John Cromwell
as Mr. Rose
Sierra Pecheur
as Mr. Bunweill
Craig Richard Nelson
as Dr. Maas
Maysie Hoy
as Doris
Belita Moreno
as Alcira
Leslie Ann Hudson
as Polly
Patricia Ann Hudson
as Peggy
Beverly Ross
as Deidre
John Davey
as Dr. Norton
View All

Critic Reviews for 3 Women

All Critics (31) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (29) | Rotten (2)

  • The result is remarkable -- a semi-lucid, feverish tale of female relationships that disintegrates into a kind of woozy, oppressive madness.

    July 16, 2015 | Rating: 5/5

    Wendy Ide

    Times (UK)
    Top Critic

  • Throughout, Duvall is brilliant: she coins a brand-new caricature of the confident yet clueless single female, then suggests a real person underneath.

    December 15, 2014 | Full Review…

    Michael Sragow

    New Yorker
    Top Critic

  • 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 | Rating: 4/5

    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 | Rating: 4/4 | Full Review…

    Roger Ebert

    Chicago Sun-Times
    Top Critic

  • A spectacular artistic success.

    June 4, 2004

    Douglas Pratt

    Hollywood Reporter
    Top Critic

  • A gauzy, perfectly executed vacation in Doppelgänger-burg.

    June 25, 2002

    Michael Atkinson

    Village Voice
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (31)

Audience Reviews for 3 Women

  • May 19, 2020
    "An awkward young teen working at a spa becomes overly attached to her fellow worker, a lonely outcast. They hang out at a bar owned by a strange pregnant artist and her has-been cowboy husband. Amid emotional crises, the three women steal and trade one another's personalities." - Do they? Do they though? With less than ten minutes remaining the 3rd of these 3 women gets her first line. And some of those minutes was credits. Now a poorly written logline is unlikely to be the fault of the movie itself, but it does kind of make me question why the movie's even called 3 Women. Decent chance I'm just not bright enough to understand it, let alone the movie itself for that matter, but I can only bring you a review from how I experienced it, and from that perspective I can say: It's alright. A lot of the style choices did aggravate me, most notably the music (I've suffered through much worse for far less with this subject, but it was still a negative to me). But the two lead performances are what the movie is predominantly hinged on, and both are pretty good. Not incredible, but pretty good. I know not adoring this puts me in the minority, but I feel like a lot of people nowadays tend to overvalue a film for no other reason than the fact that it was made before... like... 1987. That's never been a factor for me, and 3 Women honestly didn't do a lot for me.
    Gimly M Super Reviewer
  • Apr 26, 2015
    3 Women is wonderfully strange. Inspired by a dream, it flows like one with Sissy Spacek plays a once in a lifetime role.
    John B Super Reviewer
  • Feb 03, 2014
    Wide-eyed Pinky (Sissy Spacek) latches onto delusional Millie (Shelly Duval) until an accident causes a radical personality shift. Fascinating, subtly unnerving psychological mystery that provides a bridge between PERSONA (1966) and LOST HIGHWAY (1997).
    Greg S Super Reviewer
  • Nov 24, 2012
    'She tries not to shatter, kaleidoscope style Personality changes behind her red smile Every new problem brings a stranger inside Heplessly forcing one more new disguise.'
    Stefanie C Super Reviewer
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