Movie · 1992 · Comedy, Fantasy, Horror · 1h 44m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 5.2/10 (576.1K ratings)
In one small bottle... The fountain of youth. The secret of eternal life. The power of an ancient potion. Sometimes it works... sometimes it doesn't.
Overview
Madeline is married to Ernest, who was once her arch-rival Helen's fiancé. After recovering from a mental breakdown, Helen vows to kill Madeline and steal back Ernest. Unfortunately for everyone, the introduction of a magic potion causes things to be a great deal more complicated than a mere murder plot.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.2/10
IMDb: 6.7/10
Letterboxd: 3.75/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 58%
Metacritic: 56
TMDB: 6.8/10
Director
Robert Zemeckis
Production
Universal Pictures
Cast
Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis, Isabella Rossellini, Ian Ogilvy, Adam Storke, Alaina Reed Hall, Nancy Fish, Michelle Johnson, Mary Ellen Trainor, William Frankfather, John Ingle, Clement von Franckenstein, Petrea Burchard, Jim Jansen, Mimi Kennedy, Paulo Tocha, Mark Davenport, Thomas Murphy, Michael Mills
Where to watch
fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy, viciously funny camp fantasy with standout star turns and still-impressive practical effects. It’s especially rewarding if you like dark satire about beauty, vanity, aging, and bodies that refuse to behave.
Best for
camp-comedy fans
dark fantasy and horror-comedy viewers
fans of practical effects and body horror
viewers who enjoy sharp star-driven ensemble performances
people looking for queer-coded, high-camp cult energy
Skip if
you want subtle or realistic humor
you dislike body horror or grotesque physical gags
you prefer straight-ahead horror over satire
you’re not in the mood for exaggerated, theatrical performances
Overview
Death Becomes Her is a gleefully nasty studio comedy that treats vanity like a supernatural curse. Robert Zemeckis stages the whole thing with a cartoonish confidence, letting the movie swing between glossy Hollywood satire, murder-mystery farce, and outright body horror without losing its sense of play. The effects are still the big surprise: the film’s visual tricks are so inventive that they become part of the joke, not just the punchline.
Worth noting
Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn lean all the way into the material, making the rivalry feel both absurd and weirdly plausible. Bruce Willis, meanwhile, is perfectly cast as the exhausted man caught between two women who have turned eternal youth into a war crime. The movie is knowingly excessive, sometimes messy, and occasionally mean, but that’s also why it works: it understands that beauty obsession is already a horror story.
Bottom line
What has made it endure is the combination of camp, cruelty, and craft. It’s a movie that wants to be admired and laughed at at the same time, and it succeeds because it never apologizes for either impulse. If you like your comedies poisonous and your fantasy a little repulsive, this is a very easy yes.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Jay (4★) · 12523 likes
this film is looking camp right in the eye
Willow Maclay (4.5★) · 10602 likes
"Flaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacid"
Tess (5★) · 8569 likes
"Could you just not breathe?"
james💫 (4.5★) · 7197 likes
idk how to explain it but this was made for gay people
1996 · Comedy, Romance · 1h 59m · R · Curator 7.8/10 (359.1K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Peacock Premium, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus
A polished mainstream comedy built on performance, identity, and heightened theatricality, with strong queer appeal.