Female Trouble: 50th Anniversary

Divine delivers an all-out powerhouse performance for the ages as self-proclaimed “thief and shit-kicker” Dawn Davenport in John Waters’s saga of delinquency. Followed on her voyage from teenage runaway after ruining her family’s Christmas (“I asked for cha cha heels—black ones!”) to her unholy rise with shocking glory, Dawn disrespects everyone in her path with a crooked smile. Whether chastising her unwanted daughter, taunting rival neighbors, or becoming the face of the fascistic Lipstick Beauty Salon, she claws and fights for peace of mind throughout her hilariously loathsome journey.

Celebrated in its 50th anniversary, Female Trouble remains a magnum opus for Waters, distilling the hallmark nasty retorts, outward hostility, flippant criminality, and oddly earnest commentary we’ve come to expect of his perceptive, potty-mouthed legacy. Five decades later, this searing indictment of trash celebrity culture remains almost uncomfortably fresh.

This film is part of John Waters Threesome, a trio of films by the iconic queer filmmaker playing at BAM on Saturday, October 12.