Die, Mommie, Die!
| Die, Mommie, Die! | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Mark Rucker |
| Produced by |
Dante Di Loreto Anthony Edwards Bill Kenwright |
| Screenplay by | Charles Busch |
| Based on |
Die! Mommie! Die! by Charles Busch |
| Starring | Charles Busch Jason Priestley Frances Conroy Philip Baker Hall Stark Sands Natasha Lyonne |
| Music by | Dennis McCarthy |
| Cinematography | Kelly Evans |
| Edited by | Philip Harrison |
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Production
company |
Aviator Films
Bill Kenwright Films |
| Distributed by | Sundance Film Series |
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Release date
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Running time
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94 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $320,092 |
Die, Mommie, Die! is a 2003 American satirical comedy film written by Charles Busch, who also plays the lead role. Partly spoof and partly homage, it draws heavily on the tropes and themes of American "Grande Dame Guignol" films and plays from the 1950s and 1960s that featured strong, sometimes dominating female leads, such as those by Bette Davis (Dead Ringer) and Ethel Merman (Gypsy). It is adapted from a play of the same name by Busch, first performed in 1999.
The film opens with Angela Arden kneeling in front of her twin sister Barbara's grave. Angela is a lounge singer who is attempting to resuscitate her floundering career, which became obsolete around the same time Barbara committed suicide. She's unhappily married to her film director husband Sol Sussman, with whom they have two children–Lance, who is gay and emotionally disturbed, and Edith, a "daddy's girl" who is openly contemptuous of her mother. Also living in the house is the snoopy maid Bootsie, who is infatuated with Sol. Bored and unhappy, Angela begins cheating on her husband with Tony Parker, a tennis-playing "lothario" and failed actor who is reputed to be well endowed.
Sol finds out after hiring a private detective to follow Angela around. He confronts her about it but he refuses to divorce her. Instead, he gives her "life in prison". Not only does he cancel all of Angela's credit cards, he forbids her from performing at an engagement in New York, destroying the contract before she has a chance to sign it. Feeling trapped and eager to get her hands on her husband's money, Angela poisons an ever-constipated Sol with an arsenic-laced suppository.
Despite the fact that Angela receives virtually nothing in Sol's will, her children, along with Bootsie, begin to suspect Angela's involvement. And the suspicious circumstances of Sol's death bring old questions about Angela's sister's death to light. Edith–and later Lance–hatch a plot to get her to confess. Meanwhile, Tony successfully seduces both the children, taking an unusual interest in the details surrounding Aunt Barbara's death. After Bootsie is found dead, the children eventually get Angela to confess her crimes by lacing her evening coffee with LSD.
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