Plot: Sarah (Robin Wright) and Michael (Jason Patric) are lovers. She is loving and playful and has many actor friends. He has no one but her, and his jealousy. When he leaves her, she is unable to forget him. He becomes her sickness, her obsession…, the one that still have the power to bestir her.
Director: Erin Dignam
Writing Credits: Erin Dignam
Cast: Robin Wright, Jason Patric, Rae Dawn Chong, Barry Primus, Christine Harnos, Rosalind Chao and David Duchovny.
Music by: Harold Budd
Genre: Drama
Budget: $800,000
Filming Dates: 14 December 1987 – January 1988
Filming Locations: Mendocino, California, USA
Release Date: January 21, 1990 (Sundance Film Festival) | September 19, 1991 (USA Video Premiere)
MPAA Rating: R
Runtime: 103 minutes
DENIAL is a deeply affecting psychological study of Sarah (Robin Wright), affectionately called Loon by her friends and imprisoned in a wounded memory.
For Loon escape provides no liberation. Having left her home and a tumultuous relationship with Michael (Jason Patric), she finds a haven in the borne of Jay (Barry Primus) and his daughter Sid (Christine Harnos).
However, the memories of her college years with Michael cling to her, reminding her that the woman she is, and the woman she thought she wanted to be, have both been shaped by him.
When a former classmate, Julie (Rae Dawn Chong), reenters her life, she more than ever feels the anguish of memory. However, through Julie’s films of their college days, Loon begins to learn that the past need not hold her.
Robin Wright as Sarah/Loon
Sarah/Loon (Robin Wright) is a passionate, impulsive, and emotionally intense woman. Her personality is a mix of sensitivity and recklessness, making her both vibrant and magnetic, yet also chaotic and self-destructive.
Sarah lives with fierce intensity, loving with all her heart and surrendering completely to her emotions.
Sarah is spontaneous and free-spirited, but that same freedom often leads her to emotional extremes. One moment, she is charming and playful; the next, she plunges into despair.
Though she has a strong personality, she is also marked by an inner fragility that makes her prone to anguish and insecurity.
Sarah is caught in a complex and crumbling relationship. She is deeply in love with her partner, Michael (Jason Patric), but their connection is strained by emotional turmoil, commitment issues, and personal insecurities.
Sarah longs for stability and love, but she also resists being confined, creating a push-and-pull dynamic that defines her relationship with Michael. Her deep need for emotional fulfillment clashes with his fear of commitment, leading to a heartbreaking exploration of love, loss, and self-destruction.
Robin Wright delivers a raw and emotionally charged performance, bringing depth to Sarah’s complexities. Wright makes Sarah/Loon a character who is both magnetic and deeply human, unpredictable in her energy, oscillating between euphoria and despair, trapped in a relationship that consumes her yet from which she cannot escape.
Denial (1990) | Movie Clips
I barely know anything about this movie but I remember that for a while Robin Wright claimed that it was her favorite movie of all those she had made.
I’m very interested in seeing her and I want to see her on screen with Jason Patric.
If I’m not mistaken I read a long time ago that she and Jason were a couple for a year or so.
Is there any way to watch Denial online or buy it somewhere?
Hi Petra, I bought this movie via Amazon. It’s funny that you say “for a while Robin said this movie was his favorite” neither of them has talked about this movie in interviews and that is something that always caught my attention. It’s my favorite movie, I saw it on a trip to NYC, I was 14 years old at the time and all I could think about was “I wish I lived a story as sensual as this.” I love the sensual scenes of this movie, sensuality is not the same as eroticism.
the movie site tubi, shows the film, and is a free site
Not my favorite, it’s sad and sick, love hate relationship that could lead to suicidal thoughts or abuse. Hated the ending
Is there anyway I can watch this movie? It looks very interesting.
This comment was made a long time ago. I have always liked Robin’s acting and seeing Jason with her was just a bonus. This is by far one of the best movies she was ever in and yet its never gotten the full credit it deserves. Loon is so light hearted and free but complex and obsessed so deeply that it affects her for years to come. There are so many labels we could use now to describe the relationship that we would not have when the movie came out in the early 90’s. I found the movie on Tubitv.com
I first saw this movie in 1992 as a rental in Brooklyn. I have own a copy since. I fine the movie deep and special in its own way. One of my favorites, love the actors and actresses. The early days of everyone. It’s hard to share with others when watching the movie. I love the Movie and I watch it twice a year.
Denial is an unusually introspective and daring film, one that reshapes emotional restraint into a powerful narrative language.
Through its use of silence, fragmented conversations and a deeply subjective perspective, it explores the fragile line between truth and performance.
What makes the film even more compelling is Robin Wright’s performance. Despite being at a very early stage in her career, she brings a remarkable presence to the screen. There is a natural honesty in her acting (subtle, unforced, and deeply affecting) that elevates the film’s emotional core. Even in moments of stillness, she conveys layers of feeling that many more experienced actors struggle to achieve.
I get that Denial may not be an easy or conventional viewing experience, but it rewards those willing to engage with its quiet intensity.
This film seriously messed with my head… in the best way. I went in with zero expectations and it completely caught me off guard. It feels like one of those forgotten films that deserves to be rediscovered and truly appreciated.
The atmosphere is intense as hell, emotionally overwhelming and hard to shake off.
The story moves between two timelines, showing the same woman in two versions of herself: who she once was, Loon, and who she is now, Sarah. It’s like she’s reshaped her identity just to survive, trying to escape the emotional chaos that once consumed her.
Much of that pain comes from her devotion to a controlling, abusive man and you can feel how deeply it broke her. But in running from her past, she’s lost part of herself. She’s not whole anymore.
When someone from that past reappears, everything starts to unravel. You can feel her coming undone, like she can’t hold onto the version of herself she created.
It’s raw, unsettling, and honestly a bit of a mindfuck, but the kind of movie that stays with you long after it ends.
Robin Wright and Jason Patric are amazing in their roles and have great chemistry.