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The Morning After

The Morning After

Thriller · Mystery · Romance · 1986

Failed actress Alex Sternbergen wakes up hungover one morning in an apartment she does not recognize, unable to remember the previous evening -- and with a dead body in bed next to her. As she tries to piece together the events of the night, Alex cannot totally rely on friends or her estranged husband, Joaquin, for assistance. Only a single ally, loner ex-policeman Turner Kendall, can help her escape her predicament and find the true killer.

Movie details

The Morning After

“Last night she drank to forget. Today she woke up to a murder. Is he her last hope or the last man she should trust?”

1986 Thriller · Mystery · Romance 1h 42m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.0 / 10

Community rating

Failed actress Alex Sternbergen wakes up hungover one morning in an apartment she does not recognize, unable to remember the previous evening -- and with a dead body in bed next to her. As she tries to piece together the events of the night, Alex cannot totally rely on friends or her estranged husband, Joaquin, for assistance. Only a single ally, loner ex-policeman Turner Kendall, can help her escape her predicament and find the true killer.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Morning After?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Sidney Lumet

Written by

James Cresson · David Rayfiel

Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda

Alexandra Sternbergen

Jeff Bridges

Jeff Bridges

Turner Kendall

Raúl Juliá

Raúl Juliá

Joaquin "Jackie" Manero

Diane Salinger

Diane Salinger

Isabel Harding

Richard Foronjy

Richard Foronjy

Sergeant Greenbaum

Geoffrey Scott

Geoffrey Scott

Bobby Korshack

James "Gypsy" Haake

James "Gypsy" Haake

Frankie

Court is in session

Put The Morning After on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.