The year is 2207. Archeologists secretly dig
for fashion magazines as proof that women were once idolized for their beauty
and their ability to accessorize. The police force is made up of drag queens and
really unattractive lesbians.
Some women, however, are searching for a return to the good old
days. The Beauty Renegades, an underground cult led by the blue-wigged Diana (Omewenne),
hide out on the outskirts of town and teach women how to purge, exercise, and
defeat men in hand to hand combat. Classes are led by Grace (Faulkner), and pop
quizzes are given on the effectiveness of liposuction and the advantages of growing
out your bangs.
Into this melee comes a genuine princess-Helen Darling (Kroot,
who also wrote and directed) a natural beauty who has chosen to run away rather
than marry the villainous Councilman Troy (Harder). Helen finds the Beauty Renegades
to be a perfect fit for her, and becomes Diana’s confidante and lover, to
the chagrin of drag queen Gabriel (Hale) who finds himself edged out by the beatific
Helen.
Troy hires detective Alexander Lemuria (D’Addario) to find
his wayward bride to be. Lemuria, who is an expert on the Renegades, finds himself
drawn to Gabriel, who is plotting to overthrow Diana, who is...oy. You get the
idea.
If there is anything really amiss with this consistently amusing
film, it is the overly plotted plot. Kroot, perhaps afraid that the audience will
be bored, has thrown in so many plots and subplots (involving Helen’s parents,
and a renegade named Lillith who locates the fables Hanger 51, where old issues
of Cosmo and Playboy are stored) that you really do need a scorecard to tell all
the players.
Still, Kroot has made a truly unique vision here, and it is a
lot of fun...if you are in a “Rocky Horror”/”Priscilla Queen
of the Desert”/”As the World Turns” mood. The cast of drag queens,
some of them quite attractive, is bitchy perfection, and the dialogue is first
rate. Hale as the unappreciated Gabriel is a hoot, and Omewenne (who may or may
not be a man, I just can’t tell) has some Joan Crawford moments as the leader
Diana.