A dramatic actor with decades of experience, Piper Laurie earned an Oscar nominations for her portrayal of Paul Newman's neurotic girlfriend in The Hustler, as Sissy Spacek's religious fanatic mother in Carrie, and for her role in Children of a Lesser God, as well as an Emmy-nominated stint as the two-sided Catherine Martell on David Lynch's 1990 cult series Twin Peaks.
Directed by Todd Solondz
Black Comedy, Ensemble Film - Rated NC17 - 139 Minutes - 1998
Outside of the movies of Larry Clark, few films of the '90s are capable of creating as much visceral discomfort as Todd Solondz' Happiness, released on this day, 25 years ago. Ultimately a study of how the most despairing of people try to seek human connection despite (or even via) their darkest impulses, Happiness would have been reduced to pure shock value in less capable hands. For any parents watching, the climactic conversation between Dylan Baker and his son should make "the talk" look like a walk in the park.