Directed by Paul Verhoeven • 1995 • United States, France
Starring Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon
Unbound by musty notions of “good taste,” SHOWGIRLS goes farther than any other film of the 1990s in its orgiastic depiction of consumerism, crass spectacle, and the dark side of the American Dream. Elizabeth Berkley (in a tour de force of hysterical excess) stars as Nomi, a tough-as-nails drifter with a go-it-alone attitude and a murky past, who arrives in Las Vegas and sets about trampling on everyone around her—including Gina Gershon’s evil-seductive nightclub diva—as she fights her way up from stripper in a sleazy club to star showgirl. With its deliciously overripe dialogue and nigh-unhinged performances, SHOWGIRLS is both a delirious star-is-born satire and a terrifying vision of capitalism’s corruption of the soul.
Up Next in In the Deep End: Swimming Pools On-Screen
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Wild Things
Directed by John McNaughton • 1998 • United States
Starring Kevin Bacon, Neve Campbell, Matt DillonThis swamp-steamy erotic thriller—another cult classic from HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER director John McNaughton—journeys from Miami’s upscale suburban beach communities and into the murky ...
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La piscine
Directed by Jacques Deray • 1969 • France
Starring Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Maurice RonetThe bright sun of the French Riviera is deceptive in this alluring work of slow-burn suspense from thriller specialist Jacques Deray and legendary screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière. Formerly one of Euro...
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Water Lilies
Directed by Céline Sciamma • 2007 • France
Starring Pauline Acquart, Louise Blachère, Adèle HaenelDuring a summer in Paris, a love triangle develops between three girls in this provocative and perceptive portrait of teen angst and nascent sexuality. The awkward Anne, the bad girl Floriane, and ...
