Film

The Killing of Sister George

A caustic black comedy about a fading soap opera star whose character faces cancellation while her personal life collapses around her. Beryl Reid is magnificent as George, a hard-drinking, sharp-tongued has-been clinging to relevance in 1960s showbiz. It's tragicomic, theatrical, and surprisingly bitter about fame, aging, and the disposability of women in entertainment.

TMDb rating3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like backstage bitterness played as savage, sour comedy, where the laughs come from a character's unpleasant certainty and the performances carry the whole film.

Skip it if you want brisk pacing or a light touch, since at 138 minutes it is a long, talky, stagebound piece that rarely hurries and can feel airless.

What it asks of you: Settle in for a little over two hours of long, dialogue-driven scenes, with a bitter edge that stays cruel rather than cozy.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

All About Eve1950

The template for backstabbing showbiz drama. Like George, it's about the fragility of fame and the cruelty of ambition, but with even more venom and impeccable craftsmanship. Bette Davis at her most imperious.

But It's very theatrical and stagy in its dialogue; the pacing drags in places. The black-and-white cinematography won't appeal if you prefer visual lustre.

All About Eve poster

A Star Is Born1954

Judy Garland at her peak, playing a woman whose star dims as her husband's rises. It captures the same ache about obsolescence and the entertainment industry's indifference to aging women with real emotional weight.

But The film is long and melodramatic, veering into operatic territory. Garland's vocal numbers can feel like interruptions if you're not in the mood for them.

A Star Is Born poster

The Good Girl2002

Jake Gyllenhaal and Jennifer Aniston in a tart dissection of small-town ennui and infidelity. Shares George's dark comedy tone and refusal to sentimentalize its characters' moral compromises. Funny and deeply uncomfortable.

But It's very of its moment (early-2000s indie aesthetics), and the main character is genuinely unlikeable. Some will find it too bleak to enjoy.

The Good Girl poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Killing of Sister George

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Fortune and Men's Eyes1971

Both adapt stage plays about the raw ugliness of human desire and dependency, refusing to soften or excuse their characters. Both are 1960s-70s projects that treat difficult sexual and psychological material with theatrical intensity rather than cinematic sentimentality.

A prison rape drama that's almost unbearably harsh, adapted from a play (like George). It shares the film's theatrical intensity and its unflinching look at power, degradation, and survival in closed systems. Deeply uncomfortable and unforgettable.

But It's explicitly about sexual violence and contains graphic assault scenes. The tone is relentlessly brutal with no humor or relief. Not for anyone seeking entertainment rather than endurance.

Fortune and Men's Eyes poster
More like this (8)

Network1976

Savage satire of broadcasting where careers are chewed up and discarded. Like George, it understands that entertainment is a machine indifferent to human cost, and it's furious about it. Chayefsky at his most scathing.

But The tone is relentlessly angry and shrill; there's little warmth or reprieve. If you want catharsis, you won't find it.

Network poster

Mulholland Drive2001

David Lynch's nightmare about failed actresses in Hollywood. Like George, it's about the psychic damage of hanging on in an industry that erases you. Mesmerizing and genuinely unsettling about fame's hollow promises.

But It's deliberately obscure and non-linear. If you dislike ambiguity or need clear narrative resolution, this will infuriate you.

Mulholland Drive poster

The Celluloid Closet1996

A documentary that contextualizes Sister George's historical importance. Shows how George and Childie's relationship was groundbreaking (and how it was compromised by censorship). Essential viewing for understanding the film's significance.

But It's a documentary, which means it's expository rather than dramatically compelling. Some interview segments feel dated and repetitive.

The Celluloid Closet poster

Sunset Boulevard1950

The godfather of Hollywood decay narratives. Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a silent-film star clinging to delusion. It has the same cruel anatomy of fame as George, but with even darker psychological depth.

But It's fundamentally misogynistic in its contempt for aging women, which the film doesn't seem to question. The pacing can feel slow and deliberate.

Sunset Boulevard poster

La Strada1954

Fellini's portrait of two circus performers in a exploitative, transactional relationship. Like George, it observes love and dependency without flinching, and finds beauty in sordidness. Visually sumptuous and morally complex.

But It's in Italian, moves slowly, and offers no easy emotional resolution. The treatment of its female character is grim and won't sit right with modern viewers.

La Strada poster

Jezebel1938

Bette Davis as a manipulative Southern belle who destroys everything around her for attention. Pre-dates modern cynicism about female characters, and Davis commands every frame with terrifying charisma.

But The period setting and racial attitudes are jarring to modern eyes. It's stagey and overwrought by contemporary standards.

Jezebel poster

Sincerely Charlotte1985

Both are portraits of female jealousy and obsolescence in entertainment, but from radically different eras and countries. Charlotte lacks George's black comedy, which makes its sadness more complete.

A little-known French gem about a woman actress whose lover leaves her for a younger rival. The emotional specificity of its portrait of jealousy, aging, and humiliation mirrors George's plight exactly, but with a European sensibility. Quiet and devastating.

But It's slow, introspective, and subtitled. Nothing happens; everything happens internally. You must be in the mood for a film that prizes mood over plot.

Sincerely Charlotte poster

In the Loop2009

Both are comedies where the humor comes from watching fundamentally selfish people destroy themselves through their own nature. Both treat professional environments (soap opera and politics) as theaters of absurd desperation. Both are fundamentally about powerlessness dressed as power.

A vicious spin-off of the British TV comedy The Thick of It, transplanted to Washington politics. Like George, it's a masterclass in character assassination through language, with dialogue so sharp and obscene it becomes a kind of art form. Hilarious and misanthropic.

But The humor is almost entirely linguistic and depends on following political minutiae. The relentless swearing and contempt for all humans can wear you down. If you need likeable characters, don't watch this.

In the Loop poster

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