Swan Song

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2:10

Swan Song

2021

1h 45m

Drama

LGBTQ+

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

92%

Tomatometer

104 Reviews

80%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

Legendary actor Udo Kier stars as retired hairdresser Pat Pitsenbarger, who escapes the confines of his small-town Sandusky, Ohio nursing home after learning of his former client's dying wish for him to style her final hairdo. Soon, Pat embarks on an odyssey to confront the ghosts of his past -- and collect the beauty supplies necessary for the job. SWAN SONG is a comical and bittersweet journey about rediscovering one's sparkle, and looking gorgeous while doing so.

Critics Consensus

Udo Kier's layered performance lends Swan Song a nuance and poignancy that offset its potentially outlandish story.

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Mark Kermode

Kermode and Mayo's Take (YouTube)

01/18/2024

I was rather charmed by it. No, it doesn't change the world, no it doesn't do anything that's groundbreaking other than give Udo Kier the chance to show just how broad and sympathetic his range can be.

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

07/16/2022

5/5

Inspired by a real-life Sandusky, Ohio legend, writer-director Todd Stephens crafts an impeccable odyssey that ponders love, loss, and attitudinal changes. “I wouldn’t even know how to be gay any more,” Pat tells Eunice, almost despairingly.

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Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

06/12/2022

2/5

Stephens’s film is an amiable little story, and Kier is clearly enjoying himself immensely, but this is as wafting and insubstantial as Patrick’s chiffon scarf.

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Chance Solem-Pfeifer

Willamette Week

Jan 10

Every gesture captivates: Pat’s labored but proud gait on the roadside, the roughly 100 More cigarettes he ignites, Kier’s impossibly watery stare washing over every other character’s face.

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Jason Adams

My New Plaid Pants

Oct 14

Swan Song, for all its Camp factor, mines genuine pathos, especially in Kier's tenderly low-key but dryly hysterical turn

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William Stottor

Flick Feast

09/03/2024

4/5

An elderly man comes out of retirement for one last job in Todd Stephens’ Swan Song, a moving, melancholic rumination on memories and past ghosts.

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Todd Stephens

Director

Udo Kier

Pat Pitsenbarger

Jennifer Coolidge

Dee Dee Dale

Linda Evans

Rita Parker Sloan

Michael Urie

Dustin

Ira Hawkins

Eunice

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Synopsis

Legendary actor Udo Kier stars as retired hairdresser Pat Pitsenbarger, who escapes the confines of his small-town Sandusky, Ohio nursing home after learning of his former client's dying wish for him to style her final hairdo. Soon, Pat embarks on an odyssey to confront the ghosts of his past -- and collect the beauty supplies necessary for the job. SWAN SONG is a comical and bittersweet journey about rediscovering one's sparkle, and looking gorgeous while doing so.

Director: Todd Stephens
Producer: Todd Stephens, Eric Eisenbrey, Tim Kaltenecker, Stephen Israel, Rhet Topham
Screenwriter: Todd Stephens
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Production Co: Luna Pictures, Doco Digital, House of Gemini
Genre: Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 6, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 13, 2021
Box Office (Gross USA): $125.0K
Runtime: 1h 45m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)