Set in a picket white fence suburban town and starring a nuclear family, Serial Mom twists the knife on multiple genres and archetypes.

Kathleen Turner is the overly perfect wife and mother, Beverly, of a normal suburban family. In the search to continue being the flawless made-for-television family, Bev makes sure that her family stays happy in her own unique way. When things get just a little too out of hand, Mom makes everything alright again with the help of a little murder. As wild calls terrorize this perfect family’s neighbors and the body count increases, signs start pointing towards the 50’s TV wannabe mother as the culprit, and she and her family get more attention than they bargained for. What starts off as a mother defending her son soon becomes a violent habit, just another of her many ways to make the world a better place for everyone.  

Serial Mom is a quirky, sharp satire on television tropes, family sitcoms, true crime films, and the viewers of film themselves. Serial Mom comments on our absurd obsession with serial murderers and Turner delivers a killer performance. John Waters directs and Sam Waterston, Matthew Lillard and Ricki Lake also star. 

John Waters  |  1994  |  93 mins. |  English