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Desperate Living

Play trailer Poster for Desperate Living Released May 27, 1977 1h 30m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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70% Tomatometer 10 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
A housewife (Mink Stole) murders her husband, runs away and ends up in a town ruled by an evil queen who wants to infect her kingdom with rabies.
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Desperate Living

Critics Reviews

View All (10) Critics Reviews
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Even John Waters himself was not entirely pleased with his weird tale of mad housewives and eccentric lesbians in revolt, but the performances are good. Rated: C+ Feb 28, 2012 Full Review Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com Rated: 3/5 Sep 14, 2005 Full Review Bill Gibron DVD Verdict Desperate Living [is] a movie that feels like three separate films fused together. The first and the second are fantastic. Rated: 92/100 Aug 22, 2005 Full Review Daniel M. Kimmel Worcester Telegram & Gazette Rated: 3/5 Feb 8, 2004 Full Review Philip Martin Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Rated: 2/5 Dec 30, 2002 Full Review Mark Palermo The Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) Rated: 3/5 Dec 12, 2002 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (279) audience reviews
Aaron F I get that this film is one of John Waters's more divisive films, but I rate it among his best simply on the power of Mink Stole's performance. She chews every last piece of the scenery for the first half of the film, and then manages to reinvent her whole character in the third act. I judge John Waters films on their ability to convey the gonzo in the world. Desperate Living stands to me as a revolutionary vision of Freak Power as praxis. I'm here for all of it. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/19/24 Full Review thiago s Filme legalzinho, o roteiro é meio maluco, o filme já começa maluco com 6 minutos de filme, tem nudez de criança que porra é essa, a mulher que viu isso é maluca e ficou mais maluca ainda e depois matou o marido com a ajuda da empregada e depois as duas fugiram e encontraram um policial que usa lingerie e mostrou a direção da cidade de mortville, dm mortville elas foram levadas ao castelo de uma rainha gorda, e a rainha mandou elas comerem baratas, em um dia a rainha gorda charlotte mandou um aviso para todo mundo, era o dia do inverso, todas as coisas serão ao contrário como se vestir e andar de ré, e teve outras coisas loucas como o matar o maluco com alguns nudistas por perto e jogando vôlei, no final im grupo invadiu o castelo e matou todos os seguranças da rainha, e deram um tiro no cu da ajudante da rainha e depois fizeram um banquete da rainha, fazendo o pessoal como a carne humana da rainha que nem um porco em um prato gigante, com tudo isso, eu recomendo esse filme maluco do John waters. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 12/08/24 Full Review Audience Member The last truly bananas, independent film from Waters. The story is wacko, grim and all over the place, but all the players are here, giving it their campy all. Mink Stole is especially hilarious in the beginning with her freakouts. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/24/20 Full Review delysid d without Divine, it couldnt be as great as the previous movies, but i liked it. i liked all the john waters movies Rated 3 out of 5 stars 04/28/18 Full Review Audience Member Wicked funny but gross movie. queen carlottas reign is probably no different than Saddam Hussein, OBL or Kim Jung Un, behind the scenes. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Probably Mr. Waters' grossest movie. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Desperate Living

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Cast & Crew

Wifemistress 40% % Wifemistress Watchlist The Late Show 95% 77% The Late Show Watchlist Seven Beauties 67% 88% Seven Beauties Watchlist Sweet Movie 50% 63% Sweet Movie Watchlist Hester Street 80% 68% Hester Street Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis A housewife (Mink Stole) murders her husband, runs away and ends up in a town ruled by an evil queen who wants to infect her kingdom with rabies.
Director
John Waters
Producer
John Waters
Screenwriter
John Waters
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 27, 1977, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 29, 2013
Runtime
1h 30m
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