FATAL ATTRACTION is one of the biggest psychological thrillers of the 1980s, a film that divided opinion at the time of its release, and continues to reveal its hand in the decades proceeding it.

I’m the lucky one who’ll be contextualising it for the audience in a late addition to the Cinemaniacs program for 2023, at ACMI on Saturday 11th November.

The story goes like this:

Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) is a happily married man and high-flying lawyer living the dream in New York City. When his wife, Beth (Anne Archer), and their young daughter, Ellen (Ellen Latzen), head to the country for a break, Dan succumbs to the sexual charms of work colleague, Alex (Glenn Close). The weekend ends, and so does the fling – for Dan. Alex, on the other hand, sees this as the start of something else. 

This film not only took the box office by storm; it spawned a host of rip-offs, was nominated for six Academy Awards, introduced the term ‘bunny boiler’ into our lexicon and had a generation of men quaking in boots. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!

I can’t wait to put this film under the microscope… without spoiling (both) its ending(s).