Losing Ground 1982

Sara Rogers Seret Scott is a well-loved philosophy professor who teaches courses on logic. She is married to Victor Bill Gunn, a successful painter. To celebrate the sale of one of his paintings to a museum, Victor decides to rent a house for the summer where he can focus on his art. Sara, however, is annoyed by his plan because she had hoped to spend the summer in the city researching a paper she is writing on ecstatic experiences. She knows that her access to books and resources will be limited in a small town and feels that Victor does not value her academic work as much as he values his own artistic pursuits. Nevertheless, after finding a house they both adore, she agrees to accompany him for the summer.

At the rented house, Victor becomes obsessed with painting local women, befriending one in particular—Celia Maritza Rivera, a Puerto Rican woman. The tension between their artistic lives and personal boundaries begins to grow in the quiet heat of the season.

Feeling jealous, Sara returns to the city for a few days to act in a student film after one of her students begs her to participate. During the filming, she meets Duke Duane Jones, the filmmaker’s uncle, who plays her love interest in the movie. Duke is immediately attracted to her, and a new pull between professional life and personal desire begins to form.

Sara brings Duke to the rented house, and Victor becomes visibly jealous of him. Victor’s jealousy intensifies when his friend and mentor, Carlos, begins flirting with Celia. One morning, after witnessing Victor sexually harassing Celia, Sara grows furious and demands that he stop his inappropriate behavior in front of her. The confrontation marks a turning point as Sara confronts the power dynamics shaping their relationship.

Feeling overwhelmed, she leaves Victor and confides in her mother Billie Allen, expressing that she feels out of control and on shaky ground—a stark contrast to her usual steady and contemplative nature. Returning to the city, Sara completes her final scenes for the film. Victor goes to find her and arrives just in time to watch her character shoot Duke’s character for being unfaithful to her.