Rotten Tomatoes
Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Desperately Seeking Susan

Play trailer Poster for Desperately Seeking Susan PG-13 1985 1h 44m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
86% Tomatometer 37 Reviews 63% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
New Jersey housewife Roberta Glass (Rosanna Arquette) spices up her boring life by reading personal ads, especially a series of them being placed by a mysterious denizen of New York City named Susan (Madonna). When one of Susan's ads proposes a rendezvous with her suitor (Robert Joy) at Battery Park, Roberta secretly tags along. But when her voyeuristic jape ends in permanent memory loss and a new jacket, Roberta begins to gather a lot of unwanted attention from some unsavory characters.
Watch on Fandango Stream Now

Where to Watch

Desperately Seeking Susan

Desperately Seeking Susan

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Desperately Seeking Susan works with its fairy tale depiction of New York and the fun, frothy chemistry generated by its two leads.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
Kevin Maher The Times (UK) 06/21/2024
4/5
Madonna remains the movie’s megawatt performance and drips with the knowing charisma of a star whose time has come. Go to Full Review
David Denby New York Magazine/Vulture 12/31/2019
A few scenes are very funny, but the picture would have worked much better if Seidelman had thrown away half the dialogue and built some momentum. Go to Full Review
Kirk Ellis The Hollywood Reporter 04/09/2019
An attractive, energetic young cast and some witty, off-center visual humor make the resultant laughs more than worth the wait. Go to Full Review
Eddie Harrison film-authority.com Oct 6
4/5
…this is a slick, bouncy, highly-individual indie film written, produced, directed by and starring women; Madonna was the big draw, but Desperately Seeking Susan was some way ahead of the curve for those smart enough to get into the punky, feminist groove Go to Full Review
Jennie Kermode Eye for Film 06/30/2025
3.5/5
New York in the Eighties contributes some of the film’s iconic imagery, but it’s Santo Loquasto’s costumes that are perhaps the most memorable element. Go to Full Review
James Berardinelli ReelViews 08/05/2024
3/4
Blessed with the right script and cast, Seidelman crafts the perfect tone – a grounded whimsy that allows the fairy tale elements to take flight. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Melissa M @Lisey 11h Madonna's come a long way since the '80s. This movie was her 1st major film role. In 2023 this movie was selected by the national film registry as being culturally historical or aesthetically significant. Some say the film is a representation of yuppie culture & feminism. Her style & music has also changed. So has the sound of her voice. This movie the soundtrack is as awesome as the film. It might be considered a b-movie. The concept of the movie is not very original. It's been done before. But thanks to a lot of' 80s movies being over the top & outrageous like this flick it makes it fun & funny to watch. In the film Roberta is a housewife from jersey. Even though she's a Richie she's not entirely happy with her life. She's obsessed with a girl named Susan. Susan however her life is far from ordinary. Before she leaves Atlantic City she ironically steals a pair of earrings that have already been stolen. This movie over the years has been considered a cult classic. See more tim G @timg8747 Jun 24 i really enjoyed desperately seeking susan where roseanna arquette plays a house who follows the personals especially of someone named susan played madonna and even gets become her in away after losing her memory good performances See more moon S @moon90 Mar 9 this movie had such a great plot, so much happened in the movie they really jammed all of it in to almost 2 hours, i was curious to see if its a book and it is! im going to read it. this was almost like reading a story, i just really felt it. this has got to be one of the best 80's plots with twists ive ever seen, really loved the ending how everything worked out. See more Cathleen C @Balanc95 Sep 20 Boring film. I lost interest about a half hour in. Didn’t even pay attention to it, just had it on in the background. I don’t know who actually liked this movie. Maybe Madonna fans. Maybe 12-14 year olds because I probably would’ve liked this movie when it first came out and that’s the age I was at that time. Watching it as an adult over 50 it’s a dumb that failed to hold my attention. See more Stephen C @bob25009 07/04/2025 Funny in 1 hour and 44 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The worldwide gross is $27,408,168.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more thiago s @Thiagostone 06/29/2025 Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são muito fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom See more Read all reviews
Desperately Seeking Susan

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING

Desperately Seeking Susan

View more videos
Hannah and Her Sisters 92% 90% Hannah and Her Sisters Watchlist TRAILER for Hannah and Her Sisters Mermaids 71% 70% Mermaids Watchlist The Flamingo Kid 86% 55% The Flamingo Kid Watchlist Garbo Talks 57% 50% Garbo Talks Watchlist TRAILER for Garbo Talks That's Life! 60% 48% That's Life! Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis New Jersey housewife Roberta Glass (Rosanna Arquette) spices up her boring life by reading personal ads, especially a series of them being placed by a mysterious denizen of New York City named Susan (Madonna). When one of Susan's ads proposes a rendezvous with her suitor (Robert Joy) at Battery Park, Roberta secretly tags along. But when her voyeuristic jape ends in permanent memory loss and a new jacket, Roberta begins to gather a lot of unwanted attention from some unsavory characters.
Director
Susan Seidelman
Producer
Sarah Pillsbury, Midge Sanford
Screenwriter
Leora Barish
Production Co
Orion Pictures
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 20, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$24.4M
Runtime
1h 44m