Housewife Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner) seems to enjoy a life of domestic bliss. She has a loving husband (Sam Waterston), two fine teenage kids, and a beautiful Baltimore home. Hell, she even gives the birds in her backyard Christian names. Admittedly, she’s a little highly strung…
When Beverly goes on the rampage with a knife, chasing a scruffy teenager through the streets in her Sunday best, it’s in defence of all she holds most dear: family values, impeccable manners, road safety. Suburban conformity fosters its own pathologies. This is a killer comedy from the one and only John Waters (who says it’s his best film), with an uproariously funny, marvellously malicious performance from Turner.
During a time when shiny-haired tradwives in flowy dresses are attempting to turn motherhood into some sort of sacred blessing devoid of challenges, Beverly feels pretty relatable. She’s a matriarch who has had it, which is an emotional state that many of us can relate to. Beverly Sutphin isn’t real. Rooting for her doesn’t mean you’re a depraved lunatic. It just means you deeply understand that moms in this country need a freaking break.
Dina Gachman, New York Times (2026)
A funny, biting satire of suburban repression and hypocrisy, is as close as John Waters has yet come to making a mainstream film that retains the signature bad taste and biting anti-authoritarian streak of his early films.
Simon Abrams, rogerebert.com
Media Partner
John Waters
Kathleen Turner, Sam Waterston, Ricki Lake, Matthew Lillard
USA
1994
English
Book Tickets
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Credits
Producer
John Fiedler, Mark Tarlov
Screenwriter
John Waters
Cinematography
Robert Stevens
Editor
Janice Hampton, Erica Huggins
Original Music
Basil Poledouris
Production Design
Vincent Peranio
90s, Baby!
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Magnolia
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The Straight Story
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90s Surprise Film
The 90s movie we have all been missing... Join us for a celebratory wake for this year's 90s, Baby series! What you will be seeing is top secret (no, not Top Secret!, that was 1984) but it will be at least 26 years old and it will be new to this series.
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Fight Club
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