Polyester

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Polyester

R

1981

1h 26m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

30 Reviews

80%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

A frustrated housewife, Francine Fishpaw (Divine), tries to maintain her sanity while taking care of her dysfunctional household. Elmer (David Samson), her husband and the owner of an adult theater, is sleeping with his secretary, and her delinquent teen son, Dexter (Ken King), and pregnant teen daughter, Lulu (Mary Garlington), aren't helping matters any. But when Francine meets dashing Todd Tomorrow (Tab Hunter), the owner of a theater specializing in art films, her life appears rosier.

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Critics Consensus

As proudly tacky as its titular fabric, Polyester finds writer-director John Waters moving ever so slightly into the mainstream without losing any of his subversive charm.

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Variety Staff

Variety

Sep 12, 2008

A fitfully amusing comedy of not so ordinary people.

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Derek Adams

Time Out

Feb 9, 2006

OK, so it's not The Cherry Orchard, but who could resist a film where a massive drive-in billboard proclaims 'Now showing - Three Great Marguerite Duras Hits'?

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Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

May 4, 2005

B

Stinks in all the right ways.

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Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

Dec 27, 2022

Polyester isn’t one of his best; the midnight movie sensations Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble, as well as later mainstream hit Hairspray, hold up better. Still, it is a lot of fun.

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Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

Aug 30, 2022

B

Not nearly as gross as Waters’ previous outings (when Francine has to puke, she does it discreetly into her purse), but still wild enough to please any Waters fan.

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Scott Sublett

Washington Blade

May 20, 2022

Polyester will be remembered for a long time. It is a well-made film, a masterpiece of comedy and an utterly original, independent vision.

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Robert P

@Superbad Sep 13, 2026

Polyester = a *4* star Movie

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thiago s

@Thiagostone Dec 15, 2024

Filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é mais ou menos, esse filme do John waters teve poucos cenas pesadas,mais teve, como dois adolescentes entraram na casa de uma velha e atiraram nela e depois outra cena foi divine viu seu cachorro enforcado por uma corda na cozinha de sua casa, o filme não teve uma história boa, E eu não recomendo esse filme.

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Mason M

@RT73597940 Dec 14, 2024

I'm not the most familiar with Waters' earlier work, but I loved this film and its style here. Polyester is a hysterical comedy that perfects its absurdity and satire of romance films to make an amazing time. Divine and the rest of the cast all give amazingly over-the-top performances and Waters somehow makes a great film out of poor taste. This is a great film for if you need a good (but not so sophisticated) laugh.

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Alec B

@Alec97 Dec 3, 2024

Its an interesting transition for Waters as he was moving from his down and dirty early stuff to somewhat more mainstream studio movies. It is funny as a crass Douglas Sirk spoof but the problem is that every performance is in the stratosphere and that type of hysteria can be exhausting.

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dave s

@RT68722908 Nov 27, 2021

Seriously? I mean…like, really? What is the appeal to John Waters and his movies? It's hard to imagine anyone even thinking about laughing at any point in Polyester. It's the story of…wait a second…there really is no story. Francine Fishpaw (Divine) has a dysfunctional family. That's about it. It's horribly overacted, the dialogue is terrible, and the whole thing looks amateurish. It's mind-boggling that anybody would even consider recommending this, Odorama or not. There should have been an eleventh spot to scratch on the Odorama scratch card – the stench of foul garbage.

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Nov 2, 2021

what the hell is going on

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John Waters

Director

Divine

Francine Fishpaw

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Synopsis

A frustrated housewife, Francine Fishpaw (Divine), tries to maintain her sanity while taking care of her dysfunctional household. Elmer (David Samson), her husband and the owner of an adult theater, is sleeping with his secretary, and her delinquent teen son, Dexter (Ken King), and pregnant teen daughter, Lulu (Mary Garlington), aren't helping matters any. But when Francine meets dashing Todd Tomorrow (Tab Hunter), the owner of a theater specializing in art films, her life appears rosier.

Director: John Waters
Producer: John Waters
Screenwriter: John Waters
Distributor: New Line Home Video [us], Criterion Collection, New Line Cinema
Production Co: New Line Cinema
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 29, 1981, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 18, 2010
Runtime: 1h 26m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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