John Waters’ POLYESTER (1981)

RETRO: THE CRITERION COLLECTION
June 26-28, 2026 | $12 per person | $50 for a 5-Pass

John Waters’ POLYESTER
(R, 1981, 86 min, US)
For his first studio picture, John Waters took advantage of his biggest budget yet to allow his muse Divine to sink his teeth into a role unlike any he had played before: Baltimore housewife Francine Fishpaw, a heroine worthy of a Douglas Sirk melodrama. Blessed with a keen sense of smell and cursed with a philandering pornographer husband, a parasitic mother, and a pair of delinquent children, the long-suffering Francine turns to the bottle as her life falls apart—until deliverance appears in the form of a hunk named Todd Tomorrow (vintage heartthrob Tab Hunter). One of Waters’ most hilarious inventions, Polyester is replete with sadistic nuns, AA meetings, and foot stomping galore.
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