Strangers with Candy
A middle-aged ex-con returns to high school and pursues science-fair glory in a gleefully vulgar satire of respectability, popularity, and institutional fraud.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- irreverent
- sardonic
- campy
- cult movie night
- dark comedy marathon
What critics said
Critics found the film intermittently funny and faithful to its cult television sensibility, but broadly viewed it as a jumbled, overextended feature rather than a fully developed movie.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Jerri's history as an ex-con, junkie, alcoholic, and prostitute is presented through exaggerated, knowingly crude humor.
The science fair, discretionary funding fraud, competitive teachers, and popularity rituals drive the central conflict.
Forty-six-year-old Jerri returns to high school and attempts to become a popular student while carrying an adult history of addiction and imprisonment.
The film expands the stylized, episodic sensibility of its television source into a feature-length school satire.
Films like Strangers with Candy, and why
Election
shares abrasive satire, grotesque characters, school-based comedy, and deliberately campy humor
The Faculty
shares dysfunctional institutions, deadpan absurdity, and irreverent ensemble comedy
Pecker
shares provocative outsider humor, transgressive comedy, and cult-film sensibility
Rushmore
shares offbeat school setting, eccentric adults, and heightened dark comedy
Movie Details
- Director
- Paul Dinello
- Release Date
- 2006-06-28
- Runtime
- 86 min
- Rating
- 5.7 / 10 (104)
Cast
- Amy Sedaris
- Stephen Colbert
- Paul Dinello
- Greg Hollimon
- Philip Seymour Hoffman
- Ian Holm
- Chandra Wilson
- Deborah Rush
- Dan Hedaya
- Joseph Cross
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Shout! Factory Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Strangers with Candy about?
- A middle-aged ex-con returns to high school and pursues science-fair glory in a gleefully vulgar satire of respectability, popularity, and institutional fraud.
- What is Strangers with Candy like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Strangers with Candy as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Strangers with Candy violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Strangers with Candy as mild.
- What did critics think of Strangers with Candy?
- Critics found the film intermittently funny and faithful to its cult television sensibility, but broadly viewed it as a jumbled, overextended feature rather than a fully developed movie.
- Which films are like Strangers with Candy?
- Films with a similar feel include Election, The Faculty, Pecker, and Rushmore.
- How long is Strangers with Candy?
- Strangers with Candy runs 86 minutes.
- Where can I watch Strangers with Candy?
- In United States, Strangers with Candy streams on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Shout! Factory Amazon Channel.
