He’s been called the Baron of Bad Taste, Duke of Dirt, the Prince of Puke and the Sultan of Sleaze. And he’s returning to the silver screen. Today it has been revealed that the legendary John Waters is set to write and direct an adaptation of his own 2022 novel, Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance.
It’s Waters’ first time behind the camera since his 2004 film, A Dirty Shame, which starred Tracey Ullman, Johnny Knoxville and Chris Isaak. Following the release of A Dirty Shame, Waters took a step back from filmmaking and instead focused on writing, touring with spoken word performances, and appearing in a series of cameos in other films and TV shows.
Now, the transgressive filmmaker is back. “Liarmouth is the craziest thing I’ve written in a while, so maybe it’s fitting that my novel was shocking enough to jumpstart the engine of my film career,” Waters said in a statement. “Thrilled to be back in the movie business, hopefully to spread demented joy to adventuresome moviegoers around the world.”
The novel follows three generations of women in the same family: Adora, her daughter Marsha, and Marsha’s daughter Poppy. One thing leads to another, and eventually, they all conspire to kill each other.
The official logline of Liarmouth reads: “Marsha Sprinkle: Suitcase thief. Scammer. Master of disguise. Dogs and children hate her. Her own family wants her dead. She’s smart, she’s desperate, she’s disturbed, and she’s on the run with a big chip on her shoulder. They call her Liarmouth ― until one insane man makes her tell the truth.”
There’s no release date or trailer for the film as of yet.
Read our interview with Waters’ about Liarmouth here