POP UP CINEMA BRIGHTON

This icon of queer comedy cinema comes to White Wall Cinema this April!​

 

The queen of TV comedy directing, Jamie Babbit, has helmed multiple episodes of Gilmore Girls, Malcolm in the Middle, Ugly Betty, The L Word, Gossip Girl, The Middle, Girls, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Russian Doll, and Only Murders in the Building. But it’s her legendary debut feature, But I’m a Cheerleader, a riotous lampoon of the lunacy of conversion therapy, that remains her most beloved work.

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A mainstay of any top 10 list of queer cult classics, it boasts a ludicrously stacked cast: Natasha Lyonne (Orange Is the New Black, Poker Face, Russian Doll), Clea DuVall (The Faculty, Argo, Better Call Saul, The Handmaid’s Tale), RuPaul Charles (yes, as in RuPaul’s Drag Race), Melanie Lynskey (Heavenly Creatures, Yellowjackets, The Last of Us), Cathy Moriarty (Raging Bull), Michelle Williams (Shutter Island, The Fabelmans), Julie Delpy (The Before Trilogy), Bud Cort (Harold & Maude, The Life Aquatic), Mink Stole (EVERY John Waters film), Katharine Towne (Mulholland Drive, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Douglas Spain (Band of Brothers), Dante Basco (Rufio from Hook!), and many (yes, really) more.

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The film follows Megan (Lyonne), who, despite seeming like an all-American girl (jock boyfriend, good grades, and yes, a cheerleader) finds her parents staging an intervention, fearful she might be *shock horror* a lesbian. With the help of “ex-gay” Mike (RuPaul), she is carted off to the True Directions conversion therapy camp in the hope she can learn to be straight. But when she meets rebellious, unashamed teen lesbian Graham (Clea DuVall), the camp’s mission quickly begins to unravel.

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A high-camp comedy filled with brightly coloured sets and boundless energy, But I’m a Cheerleader is a tongue-firmly-in-cheek dissection of some of society’s less progressive attitudes toward sexuality and gender roles, and one big, glittery kick in the teeth to heteronormativity. Satisfyingly broad in its comedy, this light-hearted satire has a surprisingly heartfelt emotional core, with a charming cast gleefully embracing its low-budget indie spirit. It’s a vibe that has only grown in stature over time, cementing the film as one of the key works that helped redefine lesbian cinema.