Director/writer John Water's cult classic film starring Divine is the story of a competition for the title of the Filthiest Person in the World between reigning the title-holder played by Divine and a couple of baby-selling, drug-dealing, kidnapping perverts. The development of the plot is interspersed with character development and content includes sex with a chicken, stealing a porterhouse steak by holding it between thighs, exposing oneself with a sausage tied to the tip of the penis, whistling out of a contracting anus, and so forth. Side characters such as Cotton and Crackers, each housemates of Divine's character, rise to the occasion in helping her expose her initially unbeknown competitors for Filthiest Person in the World.