Waiting to Exhale

Play trailer

2:39

Waiting to Exhale

R

1995

2h 1m

Comedy

Drama

Romance

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

56%

Tomatometer

34 Reviews

79%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Navigating through careers, family and romance, four friends bond over the shortcomings in their love lives -- namely, the scarcity of good men. Both as the "other woman," Savannah (Whitney Houston) and Robin (Lela Rochon) carry on relationships with married men, each believing their lovers will leave their wives for them. On the flip side, Bernadine (Angela Bassett) ends up alone when her husband divorces her for his mistress. Meanwhile, Gloria (Loretta Devine) finds love with a new neighbor.

Watch on Fandango

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Waiting to Exhale looks at life's ups and downs from an underseen perspective -- albeit one that's poorly served by uneven acting and a sporadically interesting story.

Read Critics Reviews

Geoff Brown

The Times (UK)

Dec 20, 2023

The film, based on Terry McMillan's novel, no doubt began with higher ambitions than magazine fiction to be read under a hairdrier: but its development is so bald and the colors so glossy that magazine fiction is the result.

Go to Full Review

Hugo Davenport

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Dec 20, 2023

It comes across as a bland buppie soap opera, with scant storyline outside the shortcomings of a series of more or less useless, unattractive, unreliable or married men.

Go to Full Review

Nigel Andrews

Financial Times

Dec 20, 2023

Glutinous but pseudo-feminist.

Go to Full Review

Sheila Reid

Women in the Life

May 13, 2022

Director Forest Whitaker deserves a huge round of applause for bringing this overbloated story to the big screen screen in a succinct yet heartwarming manner.

Go to Full Review

Justin Brown

Medium Popcorn

Dec 31, 2020

3/5

I did enjoy watching this. It wasn't painful.

Go to Full Review

Tatiana Albandos

Medium Popcorn

Dec 31, 2020

3/5

This soundtrack is bomb.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Farah R.

@Farah Jan 20, 2026

Grounded in the stellar performances of its lead actresses, Waiting to Exhale offers an impactful tale of womanhood. It does get a bit too melodramatic at times, but it works with the orchestral score and vintage look of the 90s.

See more

Renaissance M

@RenaissanceMan Jan 15, 2026

Reasonably good, if a bit soap opera-ish. It tells the story of four friends over the course of a year. It does focus exclusively on romance as a means to improve one's life in a way that feels regressive today, but not bad overall.

See more

moon s

@moon90 Jan 9, 2026

beautiful cast of angela bassett, whitney houston, lela rochon and loretta devine. i admire angelas and savannah's strength and wish the best for robin, but i absolutely love the kind and humanizing nature of gloria, her voice is so sweet, the 2 hr long movie is several stories tied into one making you feel like a lesson learned through others lives, a must watch and a 90s classic

See more

Shakera T

@Shakikiiiiiii Dec 30, 2025

Absolutely loved it! Black womanhood and friendship personified. Also very nostalgic! Amazing soundtrack also.

See more

VITALII H

@freakynickison Dec 23, 2025

Watched it for the first time and definitely not for the last. The movie felt so cozy, funny, true and simple that it lightened up my mood. It’s about the marriage, friendship and livelihood in general. I absolutely loved the music that was used in it. I really enjoyed this film and didn’t want it to end.

See more

Geoff M

@madsongeoff Oct 16, 2025

There's less context than in McMillan's novel, and more lingerie. But the theme of (black) women searching for acceptance and empowerment is equally strong, especially in Angela Bassett's gale-force performance as Bernadine.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Forest Whitaker

Director

Whitney Houston

Savannah 'Vannah' Jackson

Angela Bassett

Bernadine 'Bernie' Harris

Lela Rochon

Robin Stokes

Loretta Devine

Gloria 'Glo' Matthews

Gregory Hines

Marvin King

How Stella Got Her Groove Back

51%

66%

How Stella Got Her Groove Back

Watchlist

Husbands and Wives

93%

87%

Husbands and Wives

Watchlist

Simple Men

91%

89%

Simple Men

Watchlist

Beautiful Girls

78%

80%

Beautiful Girls

Watchlist

How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer

79%

44%

How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Waiting to Exhale: Trailer 1

2:39

Now Playing

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

Navigating through careers, family and romance, four friends bond over the shortcomings in their love lives -- namely, the scarcity of good men. Both as the "other woman," Savannah (Whitney Houston) and Robin (Lela Rochon) carry on relationships with married men, each believing their lovers will leave their wives for them. On the flip side, Bernadine (Angela Bassett) ends up alone when her husband divorces her for his mistress. Meanwhile, Gloria (Loretta Devine) finds love with a new neighbor.

Director: Forest Whitaker
Producer: Deborah Schindler, Ezra Swerdlow
Screenwriter: Terry McMillan, Ronald Bass
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: 20th Century Fox
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 22, 1995, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 25, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $64.2M
Runtime: 2h 1m
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings