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The Cradle Will Fall

Name: The Cradle Will Fall
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey
Released: 1983
Duration: 100 min

Representation Score

3.6/10

Limited

1983

Director

John Llewellyn Moxey

Runtime

100 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Primarily functioning as a genre-driven thriller, the film emphasizes suspense mechanics over identity-focused narratives. By centering the story on the female protagonist's ability to drive the story, it avoids many reductive clichés of its time. The inclusion of diverse actors like Robert DoQui in key roles broadens its demographic reach. The narrative also critiques the fallibility of institutional authority figures, questioning social hierarchies.

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Category Breakdown

Does The Cradle Will Fall have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film does not include any explicit LGBTQ+ characters or storylines that explore non-straight identities. The plot centers on suspense and survival.

How does The Cradle Will Fall portray gender?

Fair

Kathy DeMaio plays a significant role in driving the story with her perceptions and struggle for survival. She avoids the passive 'damsel in distress' stereotype.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Cradle Will Fall?

Fair

Robert DoQui's central role offers representation that challenges typical 1980s homogeneous casting. However, the narrative does not focus on systemic racial issues.

How does The Cradle Will Fall represent religion and culture?

Fair

The film questions the infallibility of medical and institutional authority, exploring moral ambiguity and the subjective nature of truth within societal structures.

Does The Cradle Will Fall include disability representation?

Minimal

There are no prominent depictions of physical or neurodivergent disabilities that play a key role in the narrative or define central characters.

Present on Screen

The female protagonist actively drives the conflict through her perceptions and actions.
Diverse actors like Robert DoQui are cast in central roles, challenging the era's typical homogeneous casting practices.
The narrative effectively questions the reliability of institutional authority figures.

Limited or Absent

The film lacks explicit representation of LGBTQ+ identities or non-straight characters.
It does not engage with systemic racial or cultural issues within the plot.
There are no depictions of physical or neurodivergent disabilities.

Official Synopsis

Kathy DeMaio checks into the hospital and thinks she sees a body being loaded into the trunk of a car. When the body turns up later and the murderer, Dr. Highley, thinks that DeMaio can identify him, her life is put in jeopardy. Originally made for television and adapted from a novel by Mary Higgins Clark, the interesting twist to this thriller is that several cast members of the daytime soap opera "Guiding Light" play those same roles here.

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