Desperately Seeking Susan (1985): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1985, Desperately Seeking Susan is a comedy, drama and crime film directed by Susan Seidelman, running about 104 minutes. “Roberta is desperate to be Susan. Susan is wanted by the mob. The mob finds Roberta instead...” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. Roberta is a bored suburban housewife who is fascinated with a woman, Susan, she only knows about by reading messages to and from her in the personals section of the newspaper. This fascination reaches a peak when an ad with the headline "Desperately Seeking Susan" proposes a rendezvous. Roberta goes too, and in a series of events involving amnesia and mistaken identity, steps into Susan's life.

Who’s in it. Desperately Seeking Susan stars Madonna as Susan, Rosanna Arquette as Roberta Glass, Aidan Quinn as Dez and Mark Blum as Gary Glass, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.0/10, Desperately Seeking Susan has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response. It went on to earn $27.4M at the box office.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Prime Video with Ads and rent or buy it from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies and YouTube. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Desperately Seeking Susan page.

If you liked it. Fans of Desperately Seeking Susan tend to enjoy Forrest Gump, Parasite, Life Is Beautiful and Fight Club.