Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Graphic
- campy
- irreverent
- sardonic
- midnight movie
- cult film night
What critics said
Critics broadly praise John Waters's brazenly subversive camp treatment of societal transgression, celebrity, and mayhem.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
John Waters heightens Dawn's crimes, vanity, family conflict, and public persona into flamboyant comic performance.
Dawn transforms criminality and murder into a route toward glamour, modeling, and public attention.
Dawn's transformation begins with parental refusal and develops through fractured relationships with her parents and daughter.
Divine plays both Dawn Davenport and Earl Peterson, while the film foregrounds drag, gay themes, and outsider identity.
Films like Female Trouble, and why
Pink Flamingos
camp comedy, transgressive crime, flamboyant performance, and deliberately outré social satire
Polyester
black humor, grotesque family dysfunction, criminal spectacle, and underground camp aesthetics
Desperate Living
subversive comedy, queer sensibility, outrageous characters, and confrontational social satire
Serial Mom
stylized criminality, outsider protagonists, and darkly comic fascination with celebrity and notoriety
Movie Details
- Director
- John Waters
- Release Date
- 1976-02-15
- Runtime
- 98 min
- Rating
- 6.9 / 10 (240)
Cast
- Divine
- David Lochary
- Mary Vivian Pearce
- Mink Stole
- Edith Massey
- Cookie Mueller
- Susan Walsh
- Michael Potter
- Ed Peranio
- Paul Swift
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Female Trouble about?
- A ferociously campy descent from family grievance into criminal celebrity, staged as John Waters’s gleeful assault on respectability.
- What is Female Trouble like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Female Trouble as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Female Trouble violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Female Trouble as graphic.
- What did critics think of Female Trouble?
- Critics broadly praise John Waters's brazenly subversive camp treatment of societal transgression, celebrity, and mayhem.
- Which films are like Female Trouble?
- Films with a similar feel include Pink Flamingos, Polyester, Desperate Living, and Serial Mom.
- How long is Female Trouble?
- Female Trouble runs 98 minutes.
- Where can I watch Female Trouble?
- In United States, Female Trouble is available to rent or buy from Fandango At Home, Google Play Movies, YouTube.
