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Not a Pretty Picture

Play trailer Poster for Not a Pretty Picture 1976,  1h 23m,  Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Stream Now Watchlist 100% 8 Reviews Tomatometer - - Fewer than 50 Ratings Popcornmeter
100% Tomatometer 8 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
In this pseudo-documentary, director Martha Coolidge presents a staging of a traumatic event from her youth. As a teenager, Coolidge was raped by a boarding school classmate. Coolidge is filmed directing the actors and coping with her trauma while the reenactments are being shot.
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Critics Reviews

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Peter Bradshaw Guardian Jul 1, 2026
5/5
Could a movie of such unselfconscious daring be made today? It’s not clear. But the riding-in-the-car sequence has an ominous queasiness for the audience who know where it is leading. Go to Full Review
Richard Brody The New Yorker Jun 9, 2018
Its blend of documentary and dramatic filmmaking, of first-person reflection and renactment, sets a standard for cinematic inquiry into the political implications of personal experience. Go to Full Review
Stephanie Monohan Screen Slate Aug 24, 2026
Art may not be able to close the door on such an incident, but it may help dig out enough of a tunnel ahead in order to keep going. Go to Full Review
Calum Baker Radio Times Jul 20, 2026
4/5
This is still perfectly focused and rigorously structured; the film may have its clear social purpose, but the personality and therapeutic edge that Coolidge brings make it a quietly gripping meditation. Go to Full Review
Sean Burns WBUR’s Arts & Culture Mar 28, 2024
As we watch the movie being made, we’re also witnessing an artist finding catharsis in the act of creation. Go to Full Review
Alex Heeney Seventh Row Mar 22, 2024
Not a Pretty Picture would have been a conversation starter in the 1970s and still serves as one today... The interruptions to the narrative where we see behind-the-scenes work force us to question what the re-enactments really depict. Go to Full Review
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Not a Pretty Picture

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Cast & Crew

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Martha Coolidge

Director

Reed Birney

Fred

Jim Carrington

Curly

Michele Manenti

Martha at 16

Diana Gold

Jane

Lillah McCarthy

Nancy

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Not a Pretty Picture

Not a Pretty Picture (1975) Not a Pretty Picture (1975) Not a Pretty Picture (1975) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis In this pseudo-documentary, director Martha Coolidge presents a staging of a traumatic event from her youth. As a teenager, Coolidge was raped by a boarding school classmate. Coolidge is filmed directing the actors and coping with her trauma while the reenactments are being shot.
Director
Martha Coolidge
Producer
Martha Coolidge
Screenwriter
Martha Coolidge
Production Co
Coolidge Productions
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 31, 1976, Limited
Runtime
1h 23m
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