Desperate Living

Name: Desperate Living
Duration: 1 h 30 min

1hr 30m

1hr 30m
3.8/5 (6.0K)
94%

A neurotic society woman murders her husband with her maid's help. On the lam, they escape to Mortville, a homeless community ruled by a fascist queen. More Details »

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Movie Info & Cast

Director:

John Waters

Runtime:

1hr 30m

Synopsis

A neurotic society woman murders her husband with her maid's help. On the lam, they escape to Mortville, a homeless community ruled by a fascist queen.

Cast

Liz Renay
Mink Stole
Susan Lowe
Edith Massey
Mary Vivian Pearce
Jean Hill
Brook Yeaton
Karen Gerwig
Jay Allan
Al Strapelli

Letterboxd User Reviews

3.8

RATINGS 305 FANS

3.8

Aug 22, 2019

Watched with six people, almost all of them trans, all of them queer, on a too-small screen in an LGBT center. The only way to do it, really.

781 Likes

Sally Jane Black

Oct 26, 2015

John Waters' SAFE.

462 Likes

matt lynch

Jun 18, 2014

Fairy tale as satire of class warfare, with a nasty old queen set against a pack of punk lesbians and an uptight bougie in between them. So many choice lines, and the set design when everything goes mad is like Rohmer's PERCIVAL mixed with Jarman's JUBILEE, yet my favorite…

420 Likes

Jake Cole
Jul 29, 2022

Father, forgive them, for thinking that peak acting is Meryl Streep’s finely layered performances when Mink Stole furiously lashing out at children exists. They do not know what they are doing.

381 Likes

CinemaVoid 🏴‍☠️

Aug 25, 2013

An exploration of the psychosexual abuses of fascism on par with Salo... but funnier.

356 Likes

Sally Jane Black

Nov 23, 2018

Make Mortville Great Again

343 Likes

Liz
Sep 16, 2015

"Go ahead! A single gunshot can never destroy the beauty of fascism!" -- Mink Stole dressed as the Wicked Queen from Snow White

311 Likes

Jake Isgar

Jan 17, 2021

glory holes for boobs... revolutionary

285 Likes

𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔠𝔶

Apr 8, 2017

YOU TOUCHED ME NOW MY FLESH IS ROTTING, THE TOUCH OF SCUM im pretty sure this film has the best performances Waters has ever coerced out of his trash family and it is an absolute delight from start to finish.

221 Likes

robyn

See All Reviews on Letterboxd.com

Queue Community Reviews

94%

Community 93

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67%

👍 LIKE

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Top Reviews

Jojo liked

Desperate Living

“Look at those disgusting trees stealing my oxygen” “I don’t want some necrophile princess as my room mate!” This was such a wild perverted ride filled with so much absurdity it was funny. Some iffy moments but John waters is an exception. 6/10 🐀

3M

User user584682630 loved

Desperate Living

Queen Carlotta for president

2Y

DarkStarSpace liked

Desperate Living

Unhinged

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Desperate Living

😍😍😍

7M

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Desperate Living family-friendly?

The movie has been rated as R, meaning that Under 17 requires an adult accompaniment.

How long is Desperate Living?

The movie is 1hr 30min long.

What's Desperate Living about?