Faces

Faces (1968) is an American independent drama by John Cassavetes — watch online on iFILM. Richard Forst comes home one evening and tells his wife of fourteen years that he wants out. That's the whole inciting incident. What follows is a long, uncomfortable night for everyone involved.

Richard, played by John Marley, winds up with Jeannie — Gena Rowlands in full nervous-energy mode, laughing too hard at everything. His wife Maria, played by Lynn Carlin, goes out with friends, meets a younger man named Chet, and realizes she has no idea how to be a person outside her marriage. Cassavetes shot the film on 16mm black-and-white stock to keep it raw — close-ups held too long, silences that nobody fills, laughter that cuts off mid-breath.

The picture earned three Academy Award nominations in 1969, including a Supporting Actor nod for Seymour Cassel. Critics and filmmakers have since treated Faces as a founding document of American independent cinema. Watch Faces (1968) online on iFILM.