The film stars Johnny Depp as 1950s teen rebel Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker, and also features a large ensemble cast that includes Amy Locane, Susan Tyrrell, Iggy Pop, Ricki Lake, Traci Lords, and Polly Bergen, with appearances by Troy Donahue, Mink Stole, Joe Dallesandro, Joey Heatherton, David Nelson, Patricia Hearst, and Willem Dafoe.

The film centers on a group of delinquent youth who refer to themselves as "drapes" and their interaction with the rest of the town and its other subculture, the "squares", in 1950s Baltimore, Maryland.

Others take place in the historic neighborhoods and towns of Hampden, Baltimore, Reisterstown, Jessup, Milford Mill, and Sykesville in Maryland.

A box office failure during its initial release, the film has subsequently become a cult classic and spawned a Broadway musical of the same name which was nominated for four Tony Awards.

The group includes his sister Pepper, a teenage single mother of two; facially disfigured tough girl Mona "Hatchet-Face" Malnorowski and her devoted boyfriend, runaway rockabilly bass player Milton Hackett; and sexually precocious Wanda Woodward, whose post-World War II conventional parents constantly embarrass her.

Despite her grandmother's skepticism, Allison ultimately accompanies Cry-Baby to Turkey Point, where Hatchet-Face, Pepper, and Wanda give her a "drape" makeover before she sings a duet onstage with him.

When Lenora Frigid, who has an unrequited crush on Cry-Baby, claims to be pregnant with his child, Allison feels betrayed and tentatively returns to Baldwin and the squares, though her grandmother warns her against prematurely rushing into such a decision.

Eventually, after Allison performs with Baldwin and his friends at the newly constructed Enchanted Forest theme park, the Drapes and her grandmother convince her to campaign for Cry-Baby's release.

The website's critics consensus reads, "John Waters' musical ode to the teen rebel genre is infectious and gleefully camp, providing star Johnny Depp with the perfect vehicle in which to lampoon his pin-up image.