Circle of Violence: A Family Drama

Circle of Violence: A Family Drama
Tuesday Weld and Geraldine Fitzgerald
Directed by	David Greene
Produced by	Sheldon Pinchuk Bill Finnegan Patricia Finnegan Deborah Moore Gerald Rafshoon
Written by	William Wood
Starring	Tuesday Weld Geraldine Fitzgerald Peter Bonerz River Phoenix Philip Sterling Zoaunne Leroy Ellen Travolta Sue Giosa
Music by	Gil Mellé
Cinematography	Stevan Larner
Edited by	David Campling
Distributed by	CBS
Release date	October 12, 1986
Running time	90 min.
Country	United States
Language	English

Circle of Violence: A Family Drama (also known as Circle of Violence: A Family on the Edge or simply Circle of Violence) is a 1986 CBS television movie. Directed by David Greene and starring Tuesday Weld, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Peter Bonerz and River Phoenix, the film tells the tragic story of the seldom addressed issue of elder parent abuse.

Georgia Benfield (Tuesday Weld) is at a difficult place in her life; her husband, Pete (Peter Bonerz) has left her for a younger woman, her teenage son, Chris (River Phoenix) is unmanageable, and she's struggling financially when her widowed mother, Charlotte (Geraldine Fitzgerald) moves in. Amid juggling a new full-time job, raising two children, and her failing marriage, the constant bickering between mother and daughter continues as it has ever since Georgia was a child. Finally, at her wit's end, Georgia loses control and begins physically abusing her elderly mother, just as Georgia had been abused herself as a child. As family and friends slowly begin to learn of the abuse, and long buried family secrets come to light, both mother and daughter must learn to accept the past, to change what is happening at present, in order to face a better future.