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Pink Flamingos

Play trailer Poster for Pink Flamingos NC-17 Released Apr 11, 1997 1h 33m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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84% Tomatometer 49 Reviews 72% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
A bizarre fat woman (Divine) and her misfit family compete with a Baltimore couple (David Lochary, Mink Stole) to be named the filthiest people alive.
Pink Flamingos

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Critics Consensus

Uproarious and appalling, Pink Flamingos is transgressive camp that proves as entertaining as it does shocking.

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Critics Reviews

View All (49) Critics Reviews
Eric Henderson Slant Magazine Of course, every battle in their filth war is quite obviously filtered through John Waters’s legendarily up-is-down, wrong-is-right sense of humor. Jun 21, 2022 Full Review Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly Twenty-five years after Pink Flamingos was first unleashed, the film has lost none of its danger, its wit, its psychotic exuberance. Rated: A Sep 7, 2011 Full Review Variety Staff Variety One of the most vile, stupid and repulsive films ever made. Jun 30, 2008 Full Review Dave Giannini InSession Film Pink Flamingos is rare. A challenging, but still entertaining watch, no matter how much you try to deny it. Feb 23, 2024 Full Review Brian Susbielles InSession Film Everything – and I mean everything – was depicted with no filter and no trickery, completely raw. Feb 22, 2023 Full Review Jason Shawhan Nashville Scene The myriad horrors that Pink Flamingos offers are a catalog of atrocities played for triumph. Oct 28, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Teddy B One of those rare 'disturbing' films with a sense of humour, 'Pink Flamingos' displays some of John Waters' tightest writing and Divine's most iconic and depraved performance. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/20/25 Full Review Stephen C LOL, crossdresser!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/29/24 Full Review ‎ ‎ A while ago, I went looking for a list of disturbing movies to watch - just for fun, you know? - and I came across this movie, described as "vile," "filthy" and other words like that. With little to no knowledge on what the film was about, I dove in headfirst and watched the entire thing. And boy was it everything people said it was. It's a camp cult classic, it's hilarious, and it's so quotable. An arthouse must-watch. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 12/20/24 Full Review Judith R I honestly have no words for this film. It was one of the most insane and dirty films I have ever seen. When I read the description I was confused on how you battle for the title for Most Filthiest and was surprised what it turned out to become. In order to watch this film you have to be very strong and open minded. There are so many scenes in this movie that can be very controversial and disturbing to others. There were so many scenes that made it very hard to watch and just made you want to look away. I was surprised to see that the person who made this film also made Hairspray. Two very different films! After reading John Waters' interview I was surprised to see that some of the things shown in the scene were actually done. I would name this film one of the most bizarre films I have ever seen. You definitely have to be a very open person to watch it. If this film had come out today I don't think it would have made it very far. This film is one of those films that you watch one time for the experience and that's it. I can't see this as someone's favorite movie that they watch multiple times. I would and wouldn’t recommend this film only because it was just very hard to watch but it would also be an interesting thing to say that you were able to watch this movie entirely. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 12/20/24 Full Review Kelly A John Waters' Pink Flamingos isn't just notorious for nothing. It's proud to be grossly distasteful and actually shocking. I took it all in, understanding its 'glorious' reputation, but honestly? I wasn’t really into it. It was just too disgusting and obnoxiously invasive that I really felt like wondering what all this was supposed to be. Believe it or not, Divine the larger than life actor portrays the unforgettable performance of 'filthiest person alive,' and this indeed has some level of decimation regarding the author's intent to violate every possible rules of good taste, but it didn't seem bold or revolutionary, but rather trying too hard to shock. After a while, it simply became exhausting. Sure, I appreciate why the movie gets cult following. It is a middle finger to traditional storytelling and social norms; and is extremely influential upon underground cinema. Yet, for me, the never-ending disgusting gags with tiring shock value bury any deeper message it might have had. More like an edgy endurance test rather than a real film experience. I appreciate the importance of Pink Flamingos pushing limits, making room for queer and countercultural voices, but as a film it doesn't touch me. Know its place in cinema history, but that is an entirely different matter. Proceed with caution, and maybe keep a strong stomach ready. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 12/20/24 Full Review Zac M Pink flamingos released in 1972; a crime drama movie. within the first five minutes we get introduced to a few characters being a film released in the 70s, the social standards are so accepting of drag, queens and other queer identities so seeing that released in that time was nice to see they made a bold move. We learned to see that the main character divine is very famous, and how different people view her I enjoy seeing different peoples perspectives on someone well known. We see different relationships as some of them are very aggressive and physically abusive versus some of them being very professional with lots of smiles, a very dynamic script and dialogue. A lot of the actors delivery and scenes are filled with passion and emotion. I feel like the script is a little intense for some audiences and age groups, as there is vulgar scenes of nudity, aggressive, sexual intercourse, and someone throwing up after watching another doing a sexual act. The colored hair of the couple was very bold and a strong statement choice in that time to stand out and maybe even be involved in the process of people dying their hair. As the film goes on, there is more public visuals of the characters doing absurd things showing off to the crowd as the couple reports them showing that some people don’t agree with the choices of others because they don’t like to see it. Towards the end, we see the couple that reported them be caught by the family of divine. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 12/20/24 Full Review Read all reviews
Pink Flamingos

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis A bizarre fat woman (Divine) and her misfit family compete with a Baltimore couple (David Lochary, Mink Stole) to be named the filthiest people alive.
Director
John Waters
Producer
John Waters
Screenwriter
John Waters
Distributor
Fine Line Features, New Line Cinema
Production Co
Dreamland
Rating
NC-17
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 11, 1997, Wide
Release Date (DVD)
Sep 7, 2004
Box Office (Gross USA)
$413.8K
Runtime
1h 33m
Sound Mix
Mono, Dolby