Fear is currently streaming on The Criterion Channel

Fear (1954)83 minDramaRating 57/100

Tinged with brooding noir atmosphere, the last of the celebrated collaborations between Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman is a tense portrait of the psychology of an extramarital relationship that, in many ways, fascinatingly mirrors the furor surrounding the director and star’s own scandalous affair. In postwar Germany, Irene Wagner (Bergman) conceals an adulterous affair from her prominent husband (Mathias Wieman). When her lover’s jealous ex-girlfriend (Renate Mannhardt) begins blackmailing her, Irene finds herself plunged into a vortex of guilt, anxiety, and paranoia.

Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Mathias Wieman, Renate Mannhardt, Kurt Kreuger, Elise Aulinger, Edith Schultze-Westrum, Steffi Stroux

Director: Roberto Rossellini