The Handmaid's Tale Movie Review

Set in “the recent future” when “a country went wrong,” this fundamentally sterile adaptation of Margaret Atwood's bestselling novel still manages to be chilling thanks to its not so inconceivable premise. Militant fundamentalists seize control of the United States (now known as Gilead). The written word, except for the Bible, is replaced by television, photographs and bar codes. Smoking, drinking, and sex are officially outlawed. Abortion is punishable by hanging. An ecological disaster has left most of the population infertile. The women who can still reproduce are packed off for indoctrination before they are assigned to the homes of infertile couples as surrogate “handmaids.” Natasha Richardson stars as a fertile woman whose escape attempt lands her in the home of Commander Robert Duvall and his increasingly resentful wife, Faye Dunaway, who, in a ceremony inspired by the Old Testament, is present in bed while her husband tries to conceive with Richardson. Elizabeth McGovern energizes her scenes as a “gender-traitor,” who recruits her to join the rebels and assassinate the Commander.

1990 (R) 109m/C Natasha Richardson, Robert Duvall, Faye Dunaway, Aidan Quinn, Elizabeth McGovern, Victoria Tennant, Blanche Baker, Traci Lind; D: Volker Schlondorff; W: Harold Pinter; C: Igor Luther. VHS, Beta, LV HBO, FCT, IME