Trailer
Plot summary
The Sutphins - dentist father Eugene, housewife mother Beverly, and late teen children, boy-crazy and flea market aficionado Misty, and horror movie fan Chip - are a stereotypical suburban family living in Baltimore. Beverly in particular is seen as being "perfect" in her quest to be just like the television mothers of the late 1950s. In that perfection, Beverly does and will not tolerate anything against her sensibilities, especially if it affects her or her family, and will take whatever measure to ensure people adhere to that sensibility... or else. Slowly, evidence mounts that Beverly is the perpetrator of obscene telephone calls to neighbor Dottie Hinkle, and the murders of several people in their neighborhood who have crossed their family in some form or another. Beverly laughs off such suggestions, but even her family members end up believing she is guilty of all the murders, with possibly more to come. Those accusations end up being not an issue to most in the Sutphin family, who use their fifteen minutes of fame to their advantage. Even Beverly believes that she can clear herself of all charges despite the overwhelming evidence against her.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Serial Mom (1994)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- To discourage its use in the film, the copyright owners of the song "Tomorrow", from the 1982 film Annie, which is heard during a murder, quoted a high royalty fee of $60,000, but the studio paid the amount.
- The audio for Ted Bundy in one of Beverly's correspondences with the jailed killer is the voice of Waters himself.
- The studio demanded the film be substantially re-edited and given a different ending, which Waters refused to do, and acrimony between the two sides intensified following a poor test screening that Waters believed was deliberately held before a conservative audience unlikely to enjoy the film.
- Actresses considered for the role of Beverly Sutphin before Turner was cast included Meryl Streep, Cathy Moriarty, Christine Baranski, Kathy Bates, Glenn Close and Julie Andrews.
- Later reviews suggested that the trial in Serial Mom presaged the media coverage of the 1995 murder trial of O. J. Simpson.
- Serial Mom closed the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened out of competition as the closing night film.
