But I'm a Cheerleader

"A comedy of sexual disorientation."

2000 1h 25m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

🥫

43%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.8

IMDB

★7.1TMDB · 894🥫43%Rotten Tomatoes●39Metacritic★6.8IMDB · 49,158

ComedyDramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Megan is an all-American girl. A cheerleader. She has a boyfriend. But Megan doesn't like kissing her boyfriend very much. And she's pretty touchy with her cheerleader friends. Her conservative parents worry that she must be a lesbian and send her off to "sexual redirection" school, where she must, with other lesbians and gays learn how to be straight.

“A comedy of sexual disorientation.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Lionsgate+ Amazon ChannelSubscription

MovieSphere+ Amazon ChannelSubscription

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

YouTubeRent

Fandango At HomeRent

Spectrum On DemandRent

Amazon VideoBuy

Apple TV StoreBuy

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Natasha Lyonne
Megan
Clea DuVall
Graham
Cathy Moriarty
Mary Brown
RuPaul
Mike
Melanie Lynskey
Hilary
Katharine Towne
Sinead
Katrina Phillips
Jan
Joel Michaely
Joel

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jamie Babbit
Writers: Brian Peterson, Jamie Babbit
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

85 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

26 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

227+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jamie Babbit, shot by Jules Labarthe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Pat Irwin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Cecily Rhett shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall and Cathy Moriarty carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jamie Babbit directs. Jules Labarthe behind the camera. Pat Irwin scores. Cecily Rhett cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

185 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $1.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
326 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4227+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Jamie Babbit, shot by Jules Labarthe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Pat Irwin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Cecily Rhett shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall and Cathy Moriarty carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "A comedy of sexual disorientation.".
10IMDB entry: tt0179116 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 10 themes, including "coming out", "cheerleader", "male homosexuality", "lgbt".

The technical file

Cinematography: Jules Labarthe
Original score: Pat Irwin
Editing: Cecily Rhett
Production design: Rachel Kamerman
Costume design: Alix Friedberg
Makeup / hair: Nicholas Serino
Sound: Mark Zsifkovits
Runtime: 85 min · 1h 25m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,200,000
Box office: $2,600,000
Return: 217% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: But I'm a Cheerleader (2000)
Rotten Tomatoes: 43% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 39/100
IMDB rating: 6.8/10 · 49,158 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

2 wins & 2 nominations total

Also by

Jamie Babbit

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

fasm19762015-12-07
Awesome movie about a girl sent to a camp to make her straight. Funny comedy n you get to see Ru Paul out of drag!
alexia2024-06-22
Definitely one of my favorites, I'm not great at writing reviews but somethings I love about this movie is just how well Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall were able to represent such interesting characters. Megan and Graham are such deep characters and getting to see them get their happy ending is all I could ask for in a movie like this. Having RuPaul in this is also a nice touch, also considering the irony in his role. Dante Basco is also someone I loved to see in this, I'm for sure a huge fan of some of his other roles as well like Zuko from ATLA and Rufio from Hook. (So many niche references here to make, Homestuck for one. One of the characters Rufioh was inspired by Dante's part who he actually ended up doing some voicing for him in a Voxus Lets Read Homestuck recording somewhere! Grey Delisle, the voice of Azula from ATLA, also did a few one off lines for Vriska at some point. I think Dante was a pretty big fan of Homestuck at the time and got her to do a few lines but I'm not completely sure.) The message of the movie is "Be gay" as said by Natasha Lyonne. Anyways, I think this is an amazing movie with loveable characters and I'd definitely recommend this to anyone!

Production companies