Film

She-Devil

Name: She-Devil
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1989
Cast: Meryl Streep, Roseanne Barr, Ed Begley Jr., Linda Hunt, Sylvia Miles

Comedy

A housewife tears apart her philandering husband's life with meticulous, hilarious revenge—not through violence, but through bureaucratic chaos, social sabotage, and sheer competitive willpower. Roseanne Barr carries this 1989 dark comedy with genuine warmth beneath the carnage. It's for anyone who's fantasized about comeuppance and enjoys watching a woman win ugly.

TMDb rating

3.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy broad, sharp-edged satire about vanity and marriage, where a lead character's scheming is played with gleeful nerve and the cruelty is mostly aimed at people who deserve it.

Skip it if you want restrained, naturalistic comedy; this one is loud, cartoonish and deliberately over the top, with a lot of its effect coming from exaggerated faces and set pieces.

What it asks of you: It runs a brisk ninety-nine minutes and keeps its bite in bursts rather than long quiet stretches, so you will need to keep up with sudden swings in tone.

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

If you liked this

Working Girl1988

Melanie Griffith climbs the corporate ladder by exploiting her boss's (Sigourney Weaver) temporary disability. Sharp, funny, and genuinely satisfying—a woman wins through cunning and tenacity in a man's world.

But The 80s excess and fashion can feel dated, and the romantic subplot occasionally derails the revenge fantasy.

Mommie Dearest1981

Joan Crawford's daughter exposes her mother's cruelty through this cult melodrama. Faye Dunaway's performance is operatic and utterly committed. It's righteous anger at full volume.

But The tone wavers between serious trauma and unintentional camp. Some scenes veer toward absurd rather than devastating.

Eating Raoul1982

A uptight couple murders their swingers neighbors and uses the proceeds to buy their dream house. Darkly hilarious, genuinely strange, and far sharper than it has any right to be.

But The satire is blunt and the sex comedy elements haven't aged gracefully. It's aggressively weird in ways modern audiences sometimes find exhausting.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from She-Devil

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Witches of Eastwick1987

Both films center on women collectively deciding a man has forfeited his right to exist unmolested in their world. Both feature Meryl Streep dealing with her own power and desirability.

Three bored women wish for an exciting man and get the devil himself (Jack Nicholson). They band together to destroy him, but he's a more interesting adversary than any mortal cheater. Dark, sensual, weirdly philosophical about female desire and solidarity.

But It's more of a supernatural thriller than a revenge comedy. Nicholson chews scenery and the film's attitude toward women's sexuality is complicated and sometimes uncomfortable. The tone shifts unexpectedly.

Heathers1989

Veronica systematically destroys the high school hierarchy through manipulation and murder. Wickedly funny, visually stylish, and Winona Ryder is magnetic. The revenge is swift and total.

But The violence escalates to actual deaths; it's darker and meaner-spirited than She-Devil. Some find the glib tone toward tragedy off-putting.

Thelma & Louise1991

Two women take back control after being wronged by men, escalating from robbery to murder to legendary defiance. Thrilling, beautiful, and emotionally complex—the female revenge fantasy refined.

But The ending is tragic, not triumphant. If you want vindication rather than sacrifice, this might sting instead of satisfy.

The First Wives Club1996

Three ex-wives band together to humiliate their husbands after being dumped for younger women. Streep, Goldie Hawn, and Bette Midler orchestrate elegant, coordinated revenge with humor and style.

But The stakes are largely financial and romantic rather than existential. It feels lighter and more conventional than She-Devil's anarchic energy.

Bridesmaids2011

Annie (Kristen Wiig) sabotages her best friend's wedding while slowly unraveling from her own life collapse. Crude, desperate, and genuinely heartbreaking beneath the chaos.

But The humor is broad and scatological. The revenge is semi-accidental and driven by personal failure rather than righteous anger.

Day of the Woman1978

A woman systematically kills the men who gang-raped her. Brutal, unflinching, and refuses to compromise its premise. If you want revenge without mercy or redemption, this is it.

But Genuinely difficult to watch—the violence is graphic and the film's moral stance remains controversial. This is revenge as trauma, not entertainment.

Carrie1976

A bullied teenager's telekinetic revenge destroys her entire high school. Brian De Palma's direction is immaculate. The power fantasy is primal and the comeuppance feels cosmic.

But It's horror rather than comedy, and the revenge is less surgical than catastrophic. The prom sequence might be seen as punishment for teenage cruelty rather than justice.

Polyester1981

Both films glorify ordinary women taking revenge on terrible husbands by embracing chaos and refusing normalcy. Both treat their protagonists' rage as justified and funny rather than tragic. Same era, same gender war energy, completely different aesthetic register.

John Waters' absurdist comedy about a housewife whose husband is a foot fetishist and whose children are disasters. It's filmed in deliberate bad taste, wildly surreal, and genuinely affectionate toward its delusional protagonist. Divine is magnificent.

But It's deliberately ugly, aggressively campy, and structured around bodily functions and perverted desires. Waters' sensibility demands patience. The plot barely exists.

Made for Each Other1939

Both films recognize that intimate relationships are battlegrounds and that humiliation is a weapon women will use if backed into a corner. One is screwball comedy, one is 80s dark comedy, but both understand that revenge within marriage is a form of intimate knowledge.

James Stewart and Carole Lombard marry, immediately discover they're incompatible, and spend the film trying to destroy each other with passive aggression. It's a dry comedy about how marriage can be warfare, directed by John Cromwell with real intelligence.

But It's pre-war Hollywood so the mechanics of married conflict feel quaint and gendered in ways modern viewers find tiresome. The resolution favors reconciliation over satisfaction. It's slow.