'night, Mother on Video – 1986

Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft star in ‘Night Mother, a taut, emotional study about a mother's attempt to stop her distraught daughter from committing suicide. Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by author Marsha Norman, the moving production casts Spacek as epileptic with a failed marriage and a delinquent son who decides to take control the only way she can - by taking her own life. Bancroft, as the widowed mother with whom she lives, is oblivious to her daughter's depression until she becomes frightfully aware of her plans. The give-and-take between Spacek and Bancroft makes for a searing family drama which brings to the surface all the love, resentment and understanding that exists between every parent and child.