Directed by Mai Zetterling • 1982 • United Kingdom
Starring Chrissie Cotterill, Amanda York, Elizabeth Edmonds
Something of a companion to Alan Clarke’s youth-in-revolt bombshell SCUM (both were written by playwright Roy Minton), SCRUBBERS is a viscerally gritty immersion into the harrowing world of a reform school for girls, directed with delirious intensity by Swedish iconoclast Mai Zetterling. Confined to a brutal borstal, Annetta (Chrissie Cotterill) longs to escape in order to reconnect with her infant daughter, while the lesbian Carol (Amanda York) is determined to find a way to be transferred to the same prison as her girlfriend. The girls are from all different walks of life but learn to survive together, fighting the system and often one another.
Up Next in HandMade Films
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Privates on Parade
Directed by Michael Blakemore • 1983 • United Kingdom
Starring John Cleese, Denis Quilley, Patrick PearsonThis gloriously gay adaptation of the play by Peter Nichols centers on the exploits of SADUSEA (it’s pronounced “sad you see”)—the Song and Dance Unit, Southeast Asia, a theatrical troupe s...
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Water
Directed by Dick Clement • 1985 • United Kingdom
Starring Michael Caine, Valerie Perrine, Bill PerskyA typically sharp comic performance from Michael Caine is at the center of this nutty satire of Britain’s colonial exploits (partially inspired by the then-recent invasion of the Falkland Island...
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Checking Out
Directed by David Leland • 1989 • United States
Starring Jeff Daniels, Melanie Mayron, Michael Tucker“Why don’t Italians like barbecues?” When his best friend drops dead in the middle of telling this groaner, it brings about an existential fear of death for successful airline executive and fami...
