Film

Desperately Seeking Susan

Name: Desperately Seeking Susan
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Released: 1985
Cast: Rosanna Arquette, Madonna, Aidan Quinn, Mark Blum, Robert Joy

Screwball comedy

A bored New Jersey housewife becomes obsessed with a mysterious woman's personal ads, gets mistaken for her, and tumbles into a dizzy adventure of mistaken identity and reinvention. It's a bubbly, energetic comedy with an MTV-ready aesthetic and genuine warmth underneath the chaos—made for anyone who's ever fantasized about becoming someone else.

TMDb rating

3.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like breezy, slightly scruffy 80s comedies where a daft case of mistaken identity counts for more than the plot, and you enjoy seeing a bored person leap at a borrowed life.

Skip it if the plot is loose and episodic, so if you need a story to tighten its grip, the meandering pace may feel like drift.

What it asks of you: It asks for a relaxed evening and a willingness to go along with its wide-eyed energy; the mood stays light and bright, and it runs a brisk hour and three-quarters.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

After Hours1985

Scorsese's fever-dream comedy about a man sucked into downtown Manhattan's nocturnal underworld. Like Susan, it's gleefully anarchic, visually inventive, and treats chaos as comedy without losing its heart.

But It's darker and more unsettling than it initially appears, with a mounting dread that never fully lifts. Some find the tone whiplash exhausting.

Something Wild1986

A mousy accountant is swept into adventure by a free-spirited woman. Same DNA as Susan—mistaken identity, class collision, a woman as catalyst for male transformation—but with more edge and genuine tension lurking under the fun.

But The tonal shifts are severe, and it pivots toward real darkness in the final act. The romance feels complicated rather than earned.

Privilege1967

A bored English housewife escapes her marriage by assuming a false identity. It's a quieter, more melancholic take on the same fantasy, with stunning photography and an unexpectedly poignant meditation on female agency.

But It's slower-paced and more introspective than Susan. The mood is wistful rather than buoyant, which some will find a letdown.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Desperately Seeking Susan

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Smithereens1982

Both center on a woman's fantasy projection onto a stranger through Manhattan's margins, but one is comedy and one is slow-burn tragedy.

A New York drifter obsesses over a punk musician through personal ads and chance encounters. It has Susan's New York energy and obsessive female protagonist, but trades comedy for neorealism—a study of how fantasy and loneliness intersect. Shot on 16mm with an documentary feel.

But It's bleak and understated where Susan is bright. There's no resolution or redemption, and the protagonist's behavior becomes genuinely uncomfortable. Not for anyone wanting the upbeat energy of the original.

Breakfast at Tiffany's1961

Holly Golightly as the ultimate free spirit who makes everyone around her want to be more alive. The spiritual ancestor of Susan's vibe—effervescent, romantic, stylish, and built entirely around the magnetism of a woman who refuses to be boring.

But It's genteel and deliberately old-fashioned. If you need constant action, you'll find it slow and slight.

Bringing Up Baby1938

Screwball chaos starring a woman who drags a uptight man into her whirlwind. The template for Susan's energy—fast, funny, built on class collision and the power of a woman to upend someone else's careful life.

But The pacing is relentless and the dialogue overlaps constantly. If you're not attuned to 1930s screwball rhythm, it can feel exhausting.

Liquid Sky1982

A New York punk's life spirals when a UFO lands on her roof. Underground, visually hallucinogenic, and equally obsessed with 1980s Manhattan cool and the promise of transcendence through total weirdness. Same era DNA, infinitely stranger.

But It's aggressively avant-garde and has almost no conventional narrative. The experimental synth soundtrack and lo-fi aesthetic won't appeal to everyone.

Working Girl1988

A secretary fakes her way into the corporate world and discovers she's actually brilliant. Same transformation fantasy as Susan, but sharper-edged and invested in class mobility rather than pure reinvention.

But It's more earnest about its ambitions than Susan, and the romantic subplot is conventional. Some find the message heavy-handed.

Sheena1984

A B-movie adventure starring Tanya Roberts as a jungle queen. Pure '80s nonsense with the same colorful aesthetic and commitment to female energy as Susan, though aimed at a very different audience.

But It's genuinely bad. The plot is incoherent and the dialogue is wooden. You're signing up for campy fun, not quality filmmaking.

Clueless1995

Both are comedies about women remaking themselves and others through sheer force of personality and style, told with affection rather than cynicism.

A Beverly Hills teenager engineers lives and identities around her with cheerful chaos. Same DNA of female energy transforming a world, same period-specific visual style, same marriage of comedy and genuine emotion. It's Susan's descendant, perfected and adapted to the '90s.

But It's much sharper and more knowingly funny than Susan, which some will love and others will find smug. If you want the earnest goofiness of the original, this is too polished.