Citizen Ruth

Filmmaker Alexander Payne emerged as a distinctive, darkly-comic voice in contemporary American cinema with Citizen Ruth, his provocative and prescient debut feature about an aerosol-huffing addict named Ruth Stoops (Laura Dern) who inadvertently stumbles into the center of the national abortion debate when two opposing activist groups catch her in their ongoing tug-of-war. Payne’s pointed satire, co-written with frequent collaborator Jim Taylor, premiered to great acclaim at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival, and remains just as funny and frighteningly relevant thirty years later. 

Restoration Credits

New 4K restoration by IndieCollect, in collaboration with The Criterion Collection and Paramount Pictures.