The Last Seduction

One of the hardest attempts at film noir in the 1990s. Bridget persuades her husband to make a large amount of money selling pharmaceuticals. Then she takes it and runs. She settles in a small town, uses a false name, and starts a relationship with a man called Mike. The difference is in the lead. The femme fatale of noir is usually built from a man's point of view; here the narrative is entirely on Bridget's side and she shows neither regret nor hesitation at any point. She uses everyone around her, particularly the man who thinks he is in love, in cold blood. Linda Fiorentino plays Bridget, and the performance was among the most discussed of the period. But because the film was shown on television first in America it fell foul of Oscar rules and could not be nominated, which was widely argued about that year. Peter Berg plays Mike and Bill Pullman her husband. John Dahl directed. One of the important examples of its kind for anyone who likes modern noir and morally uncompromising characters. For a viewer waiting for a moment of redemption, the film provides it nowhere.