In her everyday life, Eva also struggles with her marriage to Viktor, whom she respects but does not love, and is still deeply affected by the tragic drowning of their son Erik, just one day short of his fourth birthday.

Their conversation turns into a heated confrontation as Eva accuses Charlotte of prioritizing her career and social life over motherhood, undermining her self-worth, and forcing her to have an abortion during a pregnancy with another man—Viktor overhears this but chooses not to intervene.

At home, Viktor desperately tries to ease Helena's severe emotional breakdown, while Eva visits the grave of her deceased son, grappling with suicidal thoughts.

The scene briefly shifts to a different setting, where Eva appears to read the letter to Charlotte, before returning to Viktor, who seals it, leaving its fate uncertain.

[7] Peter Cowie, in the notes to the Criterion DVD edition of the film, summarizes the production, stating: "Shot in Norway, with British and American backing, and featuring Swedish dialogue, Autumn Sonata emerged from one of the darkest spells in Ingmar Bergman's life.

In the Chicago Reader, Dave Kehr opined that Autumn Sonata "makes good chamber music: it's a crafted miniature with Bergman's usual bombast built, for once, into the plot requirements.

Club wrote, "When it was released in 1978, Ingmar Bergman's Autumn Sonata received positive to indifferent reviews, written off by many as a minor work from a great director.

... With the burden of high expectations lifted, Autumn Sonata can finally be seen as an austerely beautiful meditation on death and the not-always-realized possibility of reconciliation across generations.

"[12] The film has an 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 33 reviews with the consensus: "A melancholy meditation on the unresolvable tension between parent and child, Autumn Sonata is a fitting swan song for the great Ingrid Bergman.