Images

Images

Year: 1972

Runtime: 101 mins

Language: English

Director: Robert Altman

ThrillerHorrorMysteryIntense violence and sexual transgressionTwisted dark psychological thriller

During a holiday in Ireland, a pregnant children’s author begins to experience unsettling extra‑sensory phenomena. As her mental state unravels, she becomes increasingly paranoid, hallucinates, and sees a doppelgänger that threatens her perception of reality. The film explores the blurred line between imagination and madness, immersing the viewer in her disorienting visions and the tension between what is real and what is imagined.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – Images (1972)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Images (1972). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Location

London, England; Irish countryside

The story mostly unfolds inside Cathryn's London home, a symbol of affluence and domestic stability under threat. The vacation cottage in the Irish countryside provides a remote, mist-filled setting where reality bleeds into vision. These spaces contrast urban enclosure with rural isolation, mirroring Cathryn's fragmented perception.

🏙️ Urban 🗺️ London 🏞️ Countryside

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 15:33

Main Characters – Images (1972)

Meet the key characters of Images (1972), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Cathryn (Susannah York)

Wealthy children's author whose pregnancy heightens both vulnerability and tension. She experiences escalating paranoia and vivid apparitions, blurring the line between the people around her and the figures from her past. Cathryn's perceived reality fractures under pressure, driving the plot's deadly choices.

🧠 Mind games 💔 Trust erosion 🕵️‍♀️ Susceptibility

Hugh (René Auberjonois)

Cathryn's husband, a steady, comforting presence who becomes indistinguishable from the visions that haunt her. His role shifts between real partner and spectral figure, intensifying the sense of doubt and danger in the marriage.

💞 Relationship strain 🥀 Illusory threat 🕰️ Time squeeze

René (Marcel Bozzuffi)

Cathryn's dead lover who appears as a doppelgänger, taunting her and orchestrating moments of terror. His presence stirs guilt, unresolved desire, and a haunting reminder of past betrayals.

💔 Unresolved love 👤 Doppelgänger 😨 Fear

Marcel (Hugh Millais)

Neighbor and ex-lover who visits with his daughter Susannah, bringing tension and a new danger into Cathryn's already fragile state. His presence disrupts the peace of the cottage and the home.

👤 Ex-lover 🧭 Disruption 🔪 Threat

Susannah (Cathryn Harrison)

Marcel's adolescent daughter who becomes entangled in the eerie events and foreshadows Cathryn's potential fate. Her interactions add a layer of inheritance and looming family dynamics.

🧒 Youth 🌀 Foreshadow 🕯️ Innocence under threat

The Old Man (John Morley)

A wandering neighbor who appears briefly, representing a contrast to the others’ looming menace and highlighting the randomness of encounters in Cathryn's world.

🚶‍♂️ Stranger 🕳️ Ambiguity 🗝️ Threshold

Voice On Telephone (Barbara Baxley)

Uncredited voice that unsettles Cathryn with taunting calls, introducing a disturbing external threat that invades her home. The voice operates as a manipulative force behind the scenes.

🎭 Interruption 🗣️ Haunting voice 🔊 Threat

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 15:33

Major Themes – Images (1972)

Explore the central themes of Images (1972), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🪞 Doppelgängers

Cathryn's world fractures as she encounters multiple versions of the men in her life—Hugh, René, Marcel—who seem to shift in and out of reality. The doppelgänger motif destabilizes identity and blurs the line between memory, desire, and fear. The house and landscapes become mirrors that reflect and distort Cathryn's sense of self.

🧠 Reality vs Illusion

Visions and taunting voices invade Cathryn's senses, turning ordinary events into hallucinatory threats. The narrative relies on unreliable perception to question what is real, what is imagined, and what the truth might be. The audience is kept guessing until the climactic reveal about what truly happened.

🔪 Violence & Guilt

The murders and near-murders force Cathryn to confront the consequences of fear and desire. Her actions, whether real or imagined, expose a psyche pushed to the edge by isolation, pregnancy, and disintegration of trust. The film builds a sense of guilt through ambiguous culpability and the collapse of domestic safety.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 15:33

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Unlock the Full Story of Images

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Images Summary

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Images Summary

Images Timeline

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Images Timeline

More About Images

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More About Images