Mommie Dearest

Based on the scandalous tell-all bestseller, Mommie Dearest follows the turbulent and volatile relationship between Joan Crawford and her daughter Christina in a film that has becomes a steadfast camp classic thanks to Faye Dunaway's over-the-top performance as Crawford.

In reality, Christina accused her mother of all kinds of abusive behaviour, and Mommie Dearest has no time for subtlety - the film presents a true maternal monster, utterly self-obsessed and fixated on the tiniest of details in her household ('No wire hangers, ever!'). It's a tragedy, but one tinged with empathy for Crawford, a lonely woman seemingly filled with self-loathing.

Screening as part of the Bad Mums: Motherhood In Cinema season to accompany the touring exhibition Acts Of Creation: On Art and Motherhood.