In her final film, celebrated British actress Peggy Ashcroft portrays one Lillian Huckle. Released from a mental institution after 60 years, Lillian is taken in her nephew (James Fox) and his somewhat trepidatious family. As they (and we) get to know Lillian better, the many social and emotional pressures that can drive a woman to insanity come to surface; worse, Lillian has always felt that she deserved her fate. Filmed in 1989, She's Been Away was telecast in the US on December 1, 1991 as a PBS Masterpiece Theatre presentation. At the end of this telecast, a tribute was offered to Peggy Ashcroft, who had died earlier that year at the age of 83.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide