Rent Femme Fatale (2002)

Unusual Story - Femme Fatale review by NO

Confusing at start but intriguing ,eventuall y makes sense but I felt cheated at the final twist.

Good photography but I thought the strip tease & fight in the Club unnecessary.

Worth seeing.

Confusing to start but with a wicked twist - Femme Fatale review by JS

Firstly, 2 corrections. This is NOT a porn movie as suggested by the other reviewer. Sure there are two scenes where one might feel uncomfortable watching with grandparents or a pre-pubertal child but underwear is maintained during the "sex scene".

Secondly, we know a couple who didn't speak Shanghai to Heathrow until the plane circled. They married 6 months later. So not all preposterous stories on film are made up.

The film is slow and it is not clear exactly what is happening, something that persists throughout along with annoying music.

Eventually the direction becomes clear although amateurish until the twist which turns the story on its head and you applaud the writer even if you guessed the probable inevitable ending.

Diamonds, Doubles, and De Palma at Full Tilt - Femme Fatale review by griggs

De Palma piles on every noir flourish in his arsenal, then braids them into a Hitchcockian thriller with a style that recalls Paul Verhoeven’s The 4th Man and the dream logic of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive. The opening — a wordless, intricately staged diamond heist during the Cannes Film Festival — is so slick it could stand alone as its own short film. From there, the plot corkscrews into mistaken identities, double-crosses, and shifting realities that tempt you into thinking it might all add up if you just watch closely enough.

Rebecca Romijn plays Laure with an arch mix of calculation and playfulness, while Antonio Banderas gamely stumbles into her web. De Palma indulges his fondness for split screens, prowling camera moves, and sudden tonal shifts — sometimes exhilarating, sometimes pure excess. The result is a glossy, twist-drunk confection, overcooked in spots but impossible to turn away from, if only to see where its next wild swerve lands.