Synopsis
It is just another day in the small town of Hamlin until something disastrous happens. Suddenly, news breaks that a series of nuclear warheads has been dropped along the Eastern Seaboard and, more locally, in California. As people begin coping with the devastating aftermath of the attacks — many suffer radiation poisoning — the Wetherly family tries to survive.
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Cast
- Jane AlexanderCarol Wetherly
- William DevaneTom Wetherly
- Ross HarrisBrad Wetherly
- Roxana ZalMary Liz Wetherly
- Lukas HaasScottie Wetherly
- Philip AnglimHollis
- Lilia SkalaFania
- Leon AmesHenry Abhart
- Lurene TuttleRosemary Abhart
- Rebecca De MornayCathy Pitkin
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
Alexander's performance makes the film possible to watch without unbearable heartbreak, because she is brave and decent in the face of the horror. And the last scene, in which she expresses such small optimism as is still possible, is one of the most powerful movie scenes I've ever seen. - 83
Baltimore Sun
What makes Lynn Littman's film so devastating -- beyond, that is, the power of Jane Alexander's brilliant performance as the surviving mother -- is its icy control and its complete disavowal of sentimentality and sensationalism. It's a small monument to the principle of understatement. [02 Dec 1983, p.B1] - 80
Time Out
A gentle, loving, noble, angry and heartrending film. - 80
Variety
Testament is an exceptionally powerful film dealing with the survivors of a nuclear war. Debuting director Lynne Littman brings an original approach to the grim material. - 75
The Associated Press
Testament makes nuclear war a disaster that must never happen, not by showing its massive devastation, but by depicting humanity's capacity to love. [29 Nov 1983] - 75
Charlotte Observer
That Testament doesn't wallow in cheap sentimentality or grisly detail is a testament to the talents of first-time feature film director Lynne Littman, her superb cast and screenwriter John Young. [20 Jan 1984, p.4C] - 60
The New York Times
Miss Littman, who directed and was co-producer of Testament, gives its individual scenes a very realistic air, even if the film's overall conception is sometimes strained. - 50
Chicago Reader
Focusing on one family in a small northern California town that seems to have survived an initial attack, Littman quickly loses interest in the logic of the concept (the naturalistic presentation of an unnatural event) and begins pushing the sentimental pornography of death.
