The Stepford Wives (1975)
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A woman moving to a new community discovers that the local wives exhibit an eerie, robotic subservience to their husbands.
The story
Joanna Eberhart, an aspiring photographer, moves from Manhattan to the Connecticut community of Stepford with her husband Walter and their two daughters. Upon arrival, she notices that the local women appear flawless and are obsessed with housework, yet they lack any intellectual interests. She becomes bewildered by the submissive behavior of her neighbors and the fact that the men belong to an exclusionary Men's Association. When Joanna and her friend Bobbie begin investigating the reason behind this behavior, they discover that the women were once independent and assertive advocates of liberal social policies.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Joanna Eberhart moves to Stepford, Connecticut, with her husband Walter and their daughters. She notices the local women are unnaturally perfect and subservient, while the men belong to a secretive Men's Association. Joanna befriends Bobbie Markowe, and together they try to organize a women's liberation meeting, which fails as other wives focus only on cleaning. After investigating, they realize the women were once independent activists. Joanna eventually discovers that Bobbie has been replaced by a robot after becoming a conformist housewife. Joanna's children go missing, and she confronts Walter, who reveals the kids are at the Men's Association. She sneaks into the mansion, where the president, Dale 'Diz' Coba, explains that the men replace their wives because they can. Joanna flees but is caught by her own robot replica, which strangles her. The film ends with the android Joanna appearing as a perfect wife in a supermarket, while the final credits show Walter with his new 'Stepford wife' and their children.
- First release year
- 1975
- Runtime (minutes)
- 115
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Bryan Forbes
- Writers
- William Goldman · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Katharine Ross · Joanna Eberhart; Peter Masterson · Walter; Paula Prentiss · Bobbie Markowe; Nanette Newman · one of the wives; Tina Louise · another doomed wife
- Genres
- satirical psychological thriller; horror; science fiction
- Themes
- misogyny; conformity; subservience
- Tone and mood
- satirical; freaky; suspenseful
- Premise and plot tags
- psychological thriller; science fiction; satire; robotics
- Franchise connections
- The Stepford Wives
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics and was met with divided reactions from feminist activists, though it has grown in stature as a cult film.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 55% · review count: 96; Metacritic · score: 54 · scale: 100 · review count: 9
- Awards and nominations
- Saturn Award · Best Actress · Nomination
- Production trivia
- The film was shot entirely on location in Connecticut with no sets built.; The term 'Stepford wife' has become a popular science fiction concept.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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