Give Me Pity! (2022)

March 9, 2024 7:34 AM

[TRAILER] Sissy St. Claire graces the small screen for her first ever television special, an evening full of music and laughter, glamour and entertainment. But Sissy's live event quickly begins to curdle into a psychedelic nightmare.

Written, directed, and co-produced by Amanda Kramer. Starring Sophie von Hasselberg.

87% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently streaming in the US on Shudder.

posted by DirtyOldTown (5 comments total)

Look, I don't know who is out there who has all of these boxes to check, but if this is you, this is gonna be a fucking goldmine:

• Avant garde fuckery
• 70's/80's variety show dreck
• Woman losing her mind horror/psychological drama
• unbalanced egomaniac cringe
• satire of the deluded rich/famous
• Bette Midler

Kramer is Bette Midler's daughter btw, so her handle on this material is aces.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:37 AM on March 9 [3 favorites]

Oh wait wait wait. Middle aged brain.

Kramer is the director/writer/producer.

Sophie von Hasselberg is the star. She's the one who is Bette Midler's daughter.

Apologies. I saw this two years ago via a fest and got this muddled in the interim.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:40 AM on March 9 [3 favorites]

I'm going to have to sign up to Shudder for a double feature of this and Late Night With the Devil, aren't I?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 12:52 PM on March 9 [1 favorite]

Don't forget When Evil Lurks.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:57 PM on March 9 [3 favorites]

I wish I liked this better! Sophie von Haselberg is talented beyond belief, and she makes this work in a way few actors could. But I don't think the underlying story is very strong. "David Lynch Sunset Boulevard kitsch musical, make it kawaii" is a fun phrase to say, but for a feature film, I feel like you need more script than that. (Then again, Give Me Pity! is more or less the same premise as WandaVision and that dragged on for eight whole-ass hours, not 80 minutes.)
posted by kittens for breakfast at 7:19 PM on March 20