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Polyester

Play trailer Poster for Polyester R 1981 1h 26m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
93% Tomatometer 30 Reviews 81% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
A frustrated housewife, Francine Fishpaw (Divine), tries to maintain her sanity while taking care of her dysfunctional household. Elmer (David Samson), her husband and the owner of an adult theater, is sleeping with his secretary, and her delinquent teen son, Dexter (Ken King), and pregnant teen daughter, Lulu (Mary Garlington), aren't helping matters any. But when Francine meets dashing Todd Tomorrow (Tab Hunter), the owner of a theater specializing in art films, her life appears rosier.
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Polyester

Polyester

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Critics Consensus

As proudly tacky as its titular fabric, Polyester finds writer-director John Waters moving ever so slightly into the mainstream without losing any of his subversive charm.

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Critics Reviews

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Variety Staff Variety 09/12/2008
A fitfully amusing comedy of not so ordinary people. Go to Full Review
Derek Adams Time Out 02/09/2006
OK, so it's not The Cherry Orchard, but who could resist a film where a massive drive-in billboard proclaims 'Now showing - Three Great Marguerite Duras Hits'? Go to Full Review
Nick Schager Lessons of Darkness 05/04/2005
B
Stinks in all the right ways. Go to Full Review
Dennis Harvey 48 Hills 12/27/2022
Polyester isn’t one of his best; the midnight movie sensations Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble, as well as later mainstream hit Hairspray, hold up better. Still, it is a lot of fun. Go to Full Review
Rob Gonsalves Rob's Movie Vault 08/30/2022
B
Not nearly as gross as Waters’ previous outings (when Francine has to puke, she does it discreetly into her purse), but still wild enough to please any Waters fan. Go to Full Review
Scott Sublett Washington Blade 05/20/2022
Polyester will be remembered for a long time. It is a well-made film, a masterpiece of comedy and an utterly original, independent vision. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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thiago s @Thiagostone 12/15/2024 Filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é mais ou menos, esse filme do John waters teve poucos cenas pesadas,mais teve, como dois adolescentes entraram na casa de uma velha e atiraram nela e depois outra cena foi divine viu seu cachorro enforcado por uma corda na cozinha de sua casa, o filme não teve uma história boa, E eu não recomendo esse filme. See more Mason M 12/14/2024 I'm not the most familiar with Waters' earlier work, but I loved this film and its style here. Polyester is a hysterical comedy that perfects its absurdity and satire of romance films to make an amazing time. Divine and the rest of the cast all give amazingly over-the-top performances and Waters somehow makes a great film out of poor taste. This is a great film for if you need a good (but not so sophisticated) laugh. See more Alec B 12/03/2024 Its an interesting transition for Waters as he was moving from his down and dirty early stuff to somewhat more mainstream studio movies. It is funny as a crass Douglas Sirk spoof but the problem is that every performance is in the stratosphere and that type of hysteria can be exhausting. See more dave s 11/27/2021 Seriously? I mean…like, really? What is the appeal to John Waters and his movies? It's hard to imagine anyone even thinking about laughing at any point in Polyester. It's the story of…wait a second…there really is no story. Francine Fishpaw (Divine) has a dysfunctional family. That's about it. It's horribly overacted, the dialogue is terrible, and the whole thing looks amateurish. It's mind-boggling that anybody would even consider recommending this, Odorama or not. There should have been an eleventh spot to scratch on the Odorama scratch card – the stench of foul garbage. See more 11/02/2021 what the hell is going on See more 05/29/2021 From director John Waters and filmed in Odorama comes one of the rare films featuring an LGBTQ lead Divine stars as a transvestite frustrated housewife, Francine Fishpaw She tries to maintain her sanity while taking care of her dysfunctional household Elmer, her husband and the owner of an adult theater, is sleeping with his secretary, and her delinquent teen son, Dexter and pregnant teen daughter, Lulu (Mary Garlington), aren't helping matters The townsfolk are also protesting her husband's profession bringing money from adult themed means But when Francine meets dashing Todd Tomorrow (Tab Hunter), the owner of a theater specializing in art films, her life appears rosier She might've actually found some semblance of happiness Oh and did I mention Francine has a unique sense of smell? It's her gift The movie doesn't have any real focus and the plot really stretches out for long periods of time There's a lack of concentration on what should move forward This was alright See more Read all reviews
Polyester

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Movie Info

Synopsis A frustrated housewife, Francine Fishpaw (Divine), tries to maintain her sanity while taking care of her dysfunctional household. Elmer (David Samson), her husband and the owner of an adult theater, is sleeping with his secretary, and her delinquent teen son, Dexter (Ken King), and pregnant teen daughter, Lulu (Mary Garlington), aren't helping matters any. But when Francine meets dashing Todd Tomorrow (Tab Hunter), the owner of a theater specializing in art films, her life appears rosier.
Director
John Waters
Producer
John Waters
Screenwriter
John Waters
Distributor
New Line Home Video [us], Criterion Collection, New Line Cinema
Production Co
New Line Cinema
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 29, 1981, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 18, 2010
Runtime
1h 26m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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