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A darling of the ’90s and ’00s,Kirsten Dunsthas remained a resilient talent thanks to her versatility and relatable and grounded persona. Her most recent role inCivil Warcontinues to show that she is a skilled actor, with her role as Lee, a seasoned photojournalist, receiving praise from critics and co-stars alike. Still, one of Dunst’s fan-favorite roles has remained hard to find, previously unavailable to stream or rent digitally.
The beloved cult classicDrop Dead Gorgeoushas recently become available to stream. The best part? You can now stream the dark,satirical comedy for free. We will look at the popularity behindDrop Dead Gorgeous, why it became difficult to find, and where you can finally stream it.
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Drop Dead Gorgeousfollows the chaotic events around a small-town beauty pageant in Mount Rose, Minnesota, where the contestants will go to extreme lengths to secure the crown. Among the contestants, Amber Atkins, a sweet,hardworking underdog froma trailer park, and Rebecca “Becky” Leeman, a spoiled rich kid, become the two fiercest competitors. Pushed on by their mothers, the 17-year-olds caught up in the pageant resort to everything from sabotage, blackmail, and even murder to ensure victory.Drop Dead Gorgeoussatirizes the dark underbelly of small-town beauty pageantsthrougha mockumentary format, showing people’s obsession, greed, and extreme lengths to win at any cost.
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The rivalry between Amber, Rebecca, and their respective mothers is central to the comedy. Kirsten Dunst played the pageant underdog Amber Atkins. Dunst, while still young in her career, had already become a recognizable face in the industry thanks to her roles inInterview with the Vampire,Jumanji(1995), andThe Virgin Suicides. Ellen Barken played Dunst’s mother, Anette Atkins, having become a notable supporting actor for her roles inThe Fan(1996) andInto the West(1992).
Across from those two, playing the antagonist mother-daughter duo Rebecca and Glady’s Leeman were Denise Richards and Kirstie Alley. Denise Richards was coming off (what remains) her most popular role in theerotic thrillerWild Things(1998) with the cult hitStarship Troopersreleased the year previous. At the time, Kirstie Alley was already immortalized in TV space for her performance inCheers, which ran from 1987 to 1993.
The dark comedy also benefited from a strong supporting cast, including Allison Janney, Mindy Sterling, Brittany Murphy, Amy Adams, and Laurie A. Sinclair.Drop Dead Gorgeouswas directed by Michael Patrick Jann, whose most notable credit came viaDrop Dead Gorgeous;he would see the most success in TV, directing such fan-favorite series asReno 911andThe Good Doctor.
Drop Dead Gorgeouswas not originally well received on release and flopped at the box office;with an estimated budget of $15 million, the movie failed to make back its production costs, grossing $10.6 million at the US and Canadian box officeand failing to capture an international audience. The film currently stands at 47% rotten by critics. To give a sampling of those who despised the movie,Rotten Tomatoes’pulled quotes include Susan Stark of the Detroit News calling it “As mean-spirited as movies come!” and Johnathan Forman of the New York Post calling it “Crude and witless!” While there was some critical praise and later retrospection on the movie,Drop Dead Gorgeouswas panned and failed to garner any acclaim.
However,Drop Dead Gorgeouswould find itself a cult audience. A recent audience review on Rotten Tomatoes summarizes the sentiment shared by many who have flocked to celebrating the campy and over-the-top Dunst-led comedy: “This is one of the best movies of all time. The concept, the comedy, the script, the CAST. I could watch this movie a thousand times” (Marc S.). The movie, in particular, clicked with its emphasis on ‘outsider’ characters, inspiring many LGBTQ+ film fans with its oddly eccentric yet relatable characters. In addition, fans of the comedy genre have come to appreciate the unconventional approach to storytelling, placing it among the many mockumentariesturned cult hits.
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Still, those looking to go intoDrop Dead Gorgeousfor the first time should also be aware that certain elements critiqued at the release and decades after that still hold some validity.Issues like weight, mental disability, and race are used as punchlines in some instances that have not aged so well. Regardless, the movie’s commercial failure did not stop the comedy from maintaining cult status and being on people’s “I wish this was streaming” list for over a decade.
Drop Dead Gorgeoushas had difficulty finding its way to streaming due to rights and licensing issues with the film’s distribution. Notably, the film was distributed by New Line Cinema, now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It has put it in an odd gray area for getting it to stream, much like many other older films tied to different studio eras. These movies are often available for rent or purchase, butDrop Dead Gorgeous, bizarrely, has never been available for digital rental. This may be partly because the movie was a commercial failure,with cult statusnot necessarily a reason to cement platforms putting emphasis on bringing a title to streaming.
However, the movie has recently popped up in an interesting place, withDrop Dead Gorgeousavailable to stream for free onRevry. Revry, an LBTQ+ streaming platform, says it is “(A) community is made up of a diverse group of queer, allied, and multi-cultural filmmakers, artists, musicians, and visionaries who are committed to showcasing the queer experience through multiple media formats and types of storytelling,” is a welcome home for a film likeDrop Dead Gorgeous. While not a ‘queer film’ particularly, much of the cult status has come fromthe LGBTQ communityembracing the over-the-top, campy humor and portrayal of outsiders. WillDrop Dead Gorgeousbe on the platform indefinitely? That is uncertain, but it just means you must catch the Kirsten Dunst-led dark satirical comedy while you still can.
