Sucker Punch contains a number of references to other films – including explicitly calling out other movies with similar themes.
Movie posters[]
Posters advertising a number of vintage films are visible in the background of the dancers’ dressing room. These are actual Hollywood movies, not fictional creations for set dressing. The most prominent – and visible – are:
My Dream Is Yours (1949)
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
Gold Diggers in Paris (1938)
Blues in the Night (1941)
Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
Thematic links[]
These movies can be thematically linked to Sucker Punch:
My Dream Is Yours: The most obvious link is Babydoll’s line to Sweet Pea just before she sacrifices herself to help Sweet Pea escape: “This was never my story; it’s yours.” Babydoll could be interpreted as an avatar of Sweet Pea. Also, Babydoll brings her friends into her dreams, or other levels of reality.
Gold Diggers of 1933 and Gold Diggers in Paris: The dancers could be interpreted as gold diggers, in the sense that they could be thought of as trying to latch onto wealthy clients and get rich off them.
Blues in the Night: The main characters in the movie form a five-piece band and struggle to work together to achieve success while riding the countryside on a train, but they run afoul of a gangster. One character suffers a nervous breakdown, and another one is violently killed.
Thank Your Lucky Stars: Two producers try to put together a charity show with a cast of stars and unknowns.
Gallery[]
