So whenever I see a movie with a woman’s name as the title, I assume it’s some kind of social message thing — Vera Drake, Erin Brockovich, Norma Rae — and so I settled into this, wondering what kind of social message we’d get, only to immediately see the titular Mildred shoot a man dead and try to frame another guy for the murder.

Most of the movie then happens in flashback, setting up this noir-style killing, as we wonder how a housewife selling baked goods ends up in that situation… and then we see it all unfold, sometimes predictably, sometimes with unexpected twists. Her husband divorces her, her daughters each bring their own parenting challenges, she runs into money problems, etc.

What’s interesting about this movie is that it’s one part weepy melodrama — like a Douglas Sirk film — and one part straight-up noir, with twists, betrayals, and dark undercurrents. (It is zero percent a social message movie, unless the message is “don’t murder people.”)

Besides the plot, it’s also fascinating just for being old (1945), which gives it this portrait of American society that’s almost unrecognizable today. The way they think about divorce is deeply weird and takes some puzzling out; I still don’t understand the social role of “Mrs. Biederhof” — the woman Mildred’s husband has an affair with, moves in with… and who then marries someone else while Mildred’s ex is still living with her. I think the inexplicable corporate finance stuff is just the movie being sloppy about details, but who knows — maybe that worked differently too.

Anyway, it’s a fun movie with some interesting characters. It’s not in a realist mode, but if you like both heightened social dynamics and twisty plots, you’re in luck.