TESTAMENT

USA| 1983 | 35mm | 89 min.
Director: Lynne Littman
Cast: Jane Alexander, William Devane, Lukas Haas
In an Oscar-nominated performance, Alexander stars as Carol Wetherly, wife and mother in a close-knit family in a small Northern California town. The Wetherlys lead their ordinary lives until a sudden nuclear attack upends everything. In the aftermath, Carol struggles to maintain her humanity as death, in the form of radiation sickness, invades her community. Testament might be the most emotionally shattering of all major studio releases in the 1980s, but “the movie is more than just a devastating experience…it has a message with a certain hope” (Roger Ebert). 35mm print courtesy of Academy Film Archive.