The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

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The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

R

1994

1h 42m

Comedy

LGBTQ+

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Popcornmeter

94%

Tomatometer

51 Reviews

88%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

When drag queen Anthony (Hugo Weaving) agrees to take his act on the road, he invites fellow cross-dresser Adam (Guy Pearce) and transsexual Bernadette (Terence Stamp) to come along. In their colorful bus, named Priscilla, the three performers travel across the Australian desert performing for enthusiastic crowds and homophobic locals. But when the other two performers learn the truth about why Anthony took the job, it threatens their act and their friendship.

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Critics Consensus

While its premise is ripe for comedy -- and it certainly delivers its fair share of laughs -- Priscilla is also a surprisingly tender and thoughtful road movie with some outstanding performances.

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Victoria Luxford

BBC.com

09/21/2023

4/5

A very human drama, well acted, and very good fun!

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Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

09/12/2023

4/5

The core of Stephen Elliott’s movie about three drag queens on a no-hope road trip from Sydney to Alice Springs is a warm-hearted tale about yearning for family.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

06/07/2019

5/5

It's a tremendous film that was ahead of its time on LGBT issues and, in some ways, is ahead of ours.

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Bob Shelton

Birmingham Post

12/19/2024

The Adventures of Priscilla is a musical, a comedy of gay manners and a daring comment on the price of being different in a hostile world.

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Steve Warren

Southern Voice (Atlanta)

05/08/2023

Priscilla is more gay-positive than the 90-some percent of movies that ignore gays completely or put us down. It returns glamour to the screen as only drag queens can do -- outrageously and preposterously.

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Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

08/31/2022

B

The ending is cozy and unrealistic, but one can appreciate Elliot’s wanting to make a jolly piece of gay pop.

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Duke

Jun 3

Has held up very well. Great photography, interesting storyline, fun costumes, etc

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VITALII H

@freakynickison 2d

It’s been on my list since forever. It was a good time, there are some scenes that brought me joy and happiness. It’s a feel good type of movie which also has some touching moments that reflect the obstacles of living to the fullest and being the most authentic self. I wish there were more scenes like that one in the bar where Bernadette joked about the tampon on fire lol. Also I was quite surprised of seeing the outfits because I believe that many movies were drawing inspiration from the costume design of this film. I liked the journey and the cute little desert adventure, it was good. There were some scenes and moments that could’ve been pushed harder to move us with the personal stories. Overall I’m glad I watched it.

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Frans B

@FransB Jul 25

Very well done. Strange to see that stellar cast so out of their comfort zone, performing with absolute conviction, sass and pizzazz. Just goes to show the immense capability of this motley crew. Intelligently written. Great cinematography and visually stunning. Hilarious, yet very sad. So much emotion, intrigue, drama, some suspense, dilemma and heartbreak.

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Jeremy H

@jeremydharris13 Jul 8

An absolute gem of a movie. Guy Pierce steals the show, and the rest of the cast absolutely SLAYS!

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Randall P.

@rand1843 Apr 17

Great fun. Touching moments tooo.

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Julian S.

@akajulianscott 08/19/2025

What lingers most is Stamp as Bernadette, driving the film with a quiet control that makes you wish her story went further.

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Stephan Elliott

Director

Terence Stamp

Ralph

Hugo Weaving

Anthony "Tick" Belrose

Guy Pearce

Adam Whitely

Bill Hunter

Bob

Sarah Chadwick

Marion

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Synopsis

When drag queen Anthony (Hugo Weaving) agrees to take his act on the road, he invites fellow cross-dresser Adam (Guy Pearce) and transsexual Bernadette (Terence Stamp) to come along. In their colorful bus, named Priscilla, the three performers travel across the Australian desert performing for enthusiastic crowds and homophobic locals. But when the other two performers learn the truth about why Anthony took the job, it threatens their act and their friendship.

Director: Stephan Elliott
Producer: Al Clark, Michael Hamlyn, Rebel Penford-Russell
Screenwriter: Stephan Elliott
Distributor: Roadshow Home Video [au], Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp.
Production Co: Specific Films, Australian Film Finance Corporation
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, LGBTQ+
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 10, 1994, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 3, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA): $10.1M
Runtime: 1h 42m
Sound Mix: Dolby, Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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