| Director | Melanie Martinez |
|---|---|
| Genre | fantasy film, horror film, musical film |
| Runtime | 92 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $5 million |
| Box office | $359,377 |
Cry Baby prepares to attend K–12 Sleepaway School. On the bus, her schoolmates bully her ("Wheels on the Bus"). When the bus loses control, Cry Baby and her friend Angelita activate supernatural abilities, allowing them to levitate the bus and land outside of K–12. The two briefly see a ghost before hurrying to class.
During class, a student is removed after refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Cry Baby lends an eraser to a boy named Brandon; his girlfriend, Kelly, becomes jealous and threatens Cry Baby. Cry Baby telephones her mother for advice, but she doesn't respond due to being passed out drunk. Cry Baby imagines a conversation between her mother and deceased father ("Class Fight"). At recess, Kelly attacks Cry Baby, who strangles Kelly with her braids until head teacher Ms. Daphne intervenes, sending them to the principal's office.
Cry Baby learns that the principal is medicating students to control them. She poisons him, but he recovers promptly ("The Principal"). Later, Cry Baby arrives late to class and is turned into a marionette puppet ("Show & Tell"). Still in her doll form, a wounded Cry Baby is sent to the nurse's office, where Angelita returns her to her human form before the nurses restrain and forcibly medicate them ("Nurse's Office"). They are saved by Lilith, an angelic spirit guide, who reveals that they are immortal beings and instructs them to stay in K–12. Later, Cry Baby and Angelita hear music coming from the ballroom and enter to see a crowd of dancing ghosts, but flee before the ghosts can catch them.
In drama class, Cry Baby requests a different role after being cast as a housewife, but is ridiculed by the class ("Drama Club"). During the school play, Cry Baby uses her abilities to free the audience from their brainwashed state. The students storm the principal's office and murder him. After burying the principal, Cry Baby and Angelita meet Celeste, a student with similar abilities.
Placed atop a cake while topless, Cry Baby expresses her disdain for rape culture as boys devour the cake against her will ("Strawberry Shortcake"). In a dreamlike sequence, Cry Baby speaks with Lilith again. Later, Angelita begins menstruating. In the bathroom, Cry Baby steals a tampon from a nurse's pocket for Angelita. At lunch, Kelly attempts to befriend Cry Baby, but Cry Baby declines and befriends a girl named Magnolia instead ("Lunchbox Friends"). The group notices that Kelly's friend Fleur also has supernatural abilities. Cry Baby starts a food fight to get Fleur away from Kelly. Learning that Fleur is bulimic, she encourages Fleur to love herself ("Orange Juice"). After returning to the cafeteria, Cry Baby is sent to detention when Kelly informs Leo, the principal's son, of her whereabouts. Her powers weaken, but she manipulates Leo into releasing her ("Detention").
A student named Ben leaves an anonymous love letter in Cry Baby’s locker. The girls devise a plan to destroy the school, which Leo detects on security footage. Angelita begins flirting with her biology teacher. After class, he shrinks and tries to dissect her. Cry Baby returns Angelita to normal, allowing Angelita to kill him. ("Teacher's Pet"). Afterwards, the two share a joint in the topiary garden.
Cry Baby expresses her desire for a loyal, accepting partner ("High School Sweethearts"). While a nervous Ben procrastinates asking Cry Baby to the school dance, Leo takes credit for Ben's letter and asks her himself. She accepts, hoping it will help her destroy K-12. At the dance, Leo reveals the girls' plan over the loudspeaker and locks the doors, forcing the students to dance ("Recess"). Cry Baby disguises herself as a woman named Lorelai seeking an assistant position, seducing Leo and locking him inside a closet. She then instructs the students to evacuate the school. Everyone flees except Kelly.
Ben approaches Cry Baby, confessing his feelings and that he, too, has supernatural powers. They blow a spit bubble, encapsulating the school, and leap to safety as the school floats away and explodes. Cry Baby kisses Ben on the cheek. Lilith reappears from a portal-like door in the ground. Cry Baby watches her friends enter the door, hesitating when Angelita implores her to follow them.