Nurse Betty (MA 15+) PRESENTED IN 35MM FILM
Nurse Betty (MA 15+, 2000) Presented in 35mm Film by The Revival House Perth
Betty Sizemore (Renée Zellweger), a sweet, small-town Kansas waitress obsessed with a fictional soap opera, suffers a severe psychological break after witnessing her husband's brutal murder, causing her to fully believe she's actually Nurse Betty, a character from her beloved television show. Convinced she's engaged to the show's charming doctor, Betty embarks on a cross-country road trip to Los Angeles to reunite with the actor who plays him, entirely unaware that the two hitmen responsible for her husband's murder are hot on her trail. As Betty's delusion leads her into increasingly surreal encounters with Hollywood's entertainment industry, her genuine sincerity and warmth begin to unexpectedly captivate everyone she meets, including the actor whose fictional life she believes is real, all while danger closes in behind her.
Director Neil LaBute crafts a genre-bending blend of dark comedy, road movie, and crime thriller that finds unexpected sweetness within a fundamentally disturbing premise. Renée Zellweger delivers a Golden Globe-winning performance, balancing Betty's genuine delusion with a disarming sincerity that makes her sympathetic despite the character's fractured psychological state. Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock bring dark comic menace as the mismatched hitmen pursuing her, their contrasting philosophies about violence and professionalism providing sharp counterpoint to Betty's guileless innocence. LaBute's tonally audacious direction navigates between genuine pathos, satirical commentary on celebrity culture, and sudden bursts of brutal violence, resulting in an unusual, genre-defying film that refuses easy categorisation.
Original format and audio experience of this film faithfully reproduced by The Revival House. Presented in 35mm film unless noted otherwise.
When: Sunday, November 8th at 4:30PM
Where: The Revival House at the Como Theatre
Rating: MA 15+ (Medium level violence, Medium level coarse language)
LaBute's genre-defying blend of dark comedy and crime thriller finds sweetness in the disturbing—experience Zellweger's award-winning performance on 35mm film.