Seed of Chucky

Monday, May 15, 2023

This screening will be followed by a book signing and conversation between critic Matt Zoller Seitz and author Kyle Turner, launching Kyle’s new book  The Queer Film Guide: 100 Great Movies That Tell LGBTQIA+ Stories.

“Cinema history is littered with bad, naughty, monstrous queers, whose images have, if not cemented material harm to us, at least cultivated an imaginary version of us which hasn’t been the most generous. Crossdressing Pyschos, gender liars at Sleepaway Camp, gay killers doing it for the intellectual kicks, and so on. For his feature debut, Child’s Play creator Don Mancini plumbed the depths of the squick-y subtext and his franchise own ties to queer readings — easy enough, given their proximity to ideas about parenthood, masculinity, the gendered commodification of childhood — to bring out, and even reclaim, its most beautifully perverse elements in Seed of Chucky.

Chucky (Brad Dourif) and Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly) awake in Hollywood on the set of yet another killer doll movie, and the locale offers an excuse to finally displace their souls into famous people, including a disillusioned “Jennifer Tilly”. Their plans hit a bump when they have to confront a life changing factor: now they’re parents. With mussy auburn hair, serrated teeth, and a dopey shirt, Glen/Glenda (Billy Boyd) is their precious child, haunted by nightmares of vicious kills but desperate for the connection of people just like them, something like family. 

In Seed of Chucky, Mancini merges a clever tale of wacky parentings into an allegory of the conflicting forces of influence from the people you love and the images you’ve been fed, a sly riposte to cinema’s unkind treatment to those on the margins (including a superb performance from Tilly, taking aim at Hollywood’s misogyny), and how those things shape who you really are.” –Kyle Turner, author of The Queer Film Guide: 100 Great Movies That Tell LGBTQIA+ Stories.

Presented as part of the series Movies with MZS – Spring 2023

  • Country USA
  • Year 2004
  • Running Time 87 minutes
  • Format 35mm
  • Distributor Universal
  • Director Don Mancini
  • Cast Brad Dourif, Jennifer Tilly, John Waters, Billy Boyd

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.