Cult Classics: She-Devil

A darkly funny, feminist revenge story that pits Roseanne Barr against Meryl Streep.

Arc Cinema

8:00PM

$19.50 Full / $16.50 Concession (+$1.50 booking fee)

20 February, 2026

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Cult Classics: She-Devil 20 February, 2026

1989 | DCP | USA | D: Susan Seidelman

The NFSA presents a series of irreverent, Friday night filmic feasts, curated and hosted by drag artist and culture warrior Venus Mantrap.

Cult Classics with Venus Mantrap dives into the world of sharp, edgy films and beloved fan favourites. Each event features a pre-screening live performance by Venus in our beautiful art deco Arc Cinema.

Our Cult Classics screenings are often interactive and always full of laughs and surprises. Leave your serious side at home and enjoy a movie night with a twist. And probably a shimmy.

When frumpy housewife Ruth Patchett’s (Roseanne Barr) husband leaves her for glamorous romance novelist Mary Fisher (Meryl Streep), she decides to take revenge and bring underestimated women everywhere with her.

Susan Seidelman’s dark comedy, based on Fay Weldon’s novel, is a biting critique of gender stereotypes and unattainable beauty standards.

‘The casting is a real coup, with Barr going her everywoman TV persona one better by breaking the big screen heroine mold, and Streep blowing away any notion that she can’t be funny.’ – Variety

Includes pre-screening introduction and live performance by Venus Mantrap.

Coming up in Cult Classics: Making Mr. Right, Desperately Seeking Susan, Sex, Lies and Videotape, Blood Simple (Directors Cut), Scanners, Body Double, Strange Days, The Lair of the White Worm, Death Becomes Her, and Showgirls.

Arc Cinema

We are situated in the heart of Canberra on McCoy Circuit, Acton, between the shores of Lake Burley Griffin and the grounds of the Australian National University. Just a 10-minute walk from the city and state bus interchanges.

1 McCoy Circuit, Acton, ACT 2601

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