There is a fantastic intimacy to Testament, one that separates it from its contemporaries. The rural setting and geographical distance from any explosions create an eerily quiet and more insidious apocalypse.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jan 2, 2023

Living an unspeakable nightmare from which there's no waking, [Alexander] suggests a resilient admirable core of humanity.

| May 10, 2021

Although Testament was made on a tiny budget (4750,000), the photography is of high quality and director, Lynne Littman has made excellent use of her limited resources.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 10, 2021

There's nothing impersonal about this movie. Nothing unbelievable, either, if you believe the human animal has a core of righteousness that can shine like a sun when everything else has been lost.

| Original Score: 8/10 | May 10, 2021

[Testament] is a haunting, emotionally devastating movie.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 10, 2021

It's a simple and resourceful film and one that has been made with unmistakable conviction.

| May 10, 2021

Towering over every other performance is Jane Alexander's Carol Wetherly. It is a side of Alexander that no one has caught before, not even in her finest work.

| May 10, 2021

It is impossible not to be affected or frightened by Testament.

| May 10, 2021

What lingers after seeing Testament is a warm feeling, one which comes from watching a group of people continue to give of themselves, to show compassion and love, even in the face of unimaginable adversity.

| May 10, 2021

Despite its flaws, Testament achieves a commendable goal: It makes you confront nuclear war in a very personal way.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 10, 2021

Littman's direction and Jane Alexander's acting are good, too good to be wasted on this thin, sad, sentimental phantom of a film.

| May 10, 2021

Extraordinarily powerful.

| May 10, 2021

It is shattering, devastating and unforgettable. Jane Alexander deserves an Oscar for her performance as the mother of the family.

| May 10, 2021

What makes Testament so affecting is the struggle of a California family to continue on as though nothing had happened. The life force still beats within the heart of the schoolteacher-mother, played exquisitely by Jane Alexander.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 10, 2021

It can sober and depress, certainly; but often it does uplift.

| May 10, 2021

Focusing on one family in a small northern California town that seems to have survived an initial attack, Littman quickly loses interest in the logic of the concept and begins pushing the sentimental pornography of death.

| May 10, 2021

This is one of the best movies ever made about the futility of nuclear war. You'll cry buckets, but don't miss it.

| Original Score: 5/5 | May 10, 2021

Although Testament lacks the special-effects power and pre-release hype, it is a far better film than television's The Day After. And while its perspective is totally different, the effect is the same heart-rending, sickening depression.

| May 10, 2021

The dichotomy of continuing life when death is certain is the powerful theme of [Lynne] Littman's Testament, a film that drags the subject of a nuclear holocaust front and center and humanizes it by considering it through the eyes of one person.

| May 10, 2021

What makes [Lynne] Littman's film so devastating --beyond, that is, the power of Jane Alexander's brilliant performance... is its icy control and its complete disavowal of sentimentality and sensationalism.

| May 10, 2021