SERIAL MOM (1994)

• Director: John Waters
• Cast: Kathleen Turner, Sam Waterston, Ricki Lake, Mink Stole
• Film: 94mins | USA | Subtitles | Intermission
• Event: 20:45 – 23:10 [18+]

She’s the perfect all-American parent: a great cook and homemaker, a devoted recycler, and a woman who’ll literally kill to keep her children happy.

“AN OUTRAGEOUS, WILD AND CRAZY COMEDY BY JOHN WATERS!”

BAR TRASH celebrates our 3rd year and 10th sensational season with WE ARE TRASH!, a fan-made mixtape of cult and chaotic cinema (14 May to 20 Aug 2025).

As you might expect, BAR TRASH gets regular requests to screen films from ‘The Pope of Trash’ himself, aka Baltimore legend John Waters. HAIRSPRAY (1988) opened our last season and became our second fastest selling show ever (after ROCKY HORROR!). And so here we go again!

The spectacularly foul-mouthed SERIAL MOM (1994) was an obvious choice to continue our season’s theme of kick-ass women. The indomitable Kathleen Turner stars as a suburban mom on a rampage, murdering anyone who crosses her kids and sparring memorably with Dreamland legend Mink Stole in a series of (shockingly quotable…) prank calls. Much of SERIAL MOM was shot in the suburban communities and downtown Baltimore locations Waters celebrates escaping from, and Turner’s character Beverly Sutphin was modelled on Waters’ very own mom.

“SERIAL MOM is one of Waters’ most personal and autobiographical works. Not only has Waters repeatedly called the film one of his best, it captures better than any of his other movies save maybe FEMALE TROUBLE the central thesis of his work: in America infamy and fame are the same thing.”

Nathanael Hood, mubi

Polite notice: We are showing SERIAL MOM with subtitles from the best available digital source. The film contains profane language…

// BAR TRASH is a celebration of cult and curious cinema, hosted by queer film fanatic Token Homo and friends. Films are served with introductions, intermissions, prize giveaways, and subtitles / captions where possible. Tickets from £3.50+. Adults 18+ only. Follow @tokenhomo on Instagram for updates. //

Programme supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery. www.filmlondon.org.uk/film-hub-london