Femme Fatale

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Femme Fatale

R

2002

1h 50m

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

49%

Tomatometer

137 Reviews

49%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Laure (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), a member of a crime ring, lifts an extravagant set of jewels from a model at a red carpet event. But instead of splitting the loot with her partners, Laure flees. While running from the crooks she betrayed, she comes across Lily (also Romijn-Stamos), a woman nearly identical to herself. When Lily kills herself, Laure assumes her identity and starts life anew. But paparazzo Nicolas (Antonio Banderas) has been tracking her, and may reveal all her dark secrets.

Critics Consensus

The thriller Femme Fatale is overheated, nonsensical, and silly.

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Adam Nayman

eye WEEKLY

A movie as glossily silly -- and guiltily pleasurable -- as a waiting-room fashion magazine.

Rated: 3.5/5

Nov 19, 2002

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

I found myself capitulating to its inspired formalist madness -- something I've resisted in [De Palma's] films for the past 30-odd years.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 15, 2002

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Richard Roeper

Ebert & Roeper

A wonderful ride.

Nov 11, 2002

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Noah Berlatsky

Everything is Horrible (Substack)

Instead of trying to master visual pleasure with narrative, Femme Fatale revels in the way the femme fatale releases the film from sequence, logic, and ultimately even from misogyny.

Aug 1, 2023

Full Review

A.S. Hamrah

n+1

De Palma brings a lifetime's contemplation of cinematic trickery to this, his most abstract and satisfying thriller.

Nov 29, 2018

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Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

Flies completely off of the rails, morphing from tantalizing trash to nowhere nonsense.

Rated: 2/4

Jan 29, 2009

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Rami A

I was surprised to see De Palma reuse old filming techniques and camera work, similar to when he directed Carrie (1976). Besides the technical stuff, this movie is a lot of fun to watch. I found myself quite hooked throughout this experience.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/05/25

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Alec B

Hard to say if this is De Palma's best movie but this might be the most De Palma movie in his ouvre. A kaleidoscope of heists, double crosses, voyeurism, outrageous twists, and indulgent style.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

10/13/23

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Carlos I

I don't know if it's Rebecca Romijn that just leaves the flat taste, but I couldn't connect to this attempt at a steamy thriller. It's odd, because it has a lot of the elements to make a great film noir, but most of it just feels like DePalma on autopilot.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

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Audience Member

If you like De Palma's style then watch it, of you don't then don't, though even by his standard it is very very silly

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

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Audience Member

A miserable watch. The pathetic soap opera ( Dallas ( twist at the end , sums up the wretchedness of the script.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

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Audience Member

the plot is also nice but the film is boring at times

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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Brian De Palma

Director

Rebecca Romijn

Laure

Antonio Banderas

Nicolas Bardo

Peter Coyote

Watts

Eriq Ebouaney

Black Tie

Édouard Montoute

Racine

Mute Witness

85%

66%

Mute Witness

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Miranda

38%

35%

Miranda

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Heaven

73%

76%

Heaven

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TRAILER

for Heaven

Diva

97%

86%

Diva

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Don't Say a Word

23%

49%

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Synopsis

Laure (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), a member of a crime ring, lifts an extravagant set of jewels from a model at a red carpet event. But instead of splitting the loot with her partners, Laure flees. While running from the crooks she betrayed, she comes across Lily (also Romijn-Stamos), a woman nearly identical to herself. When Lily kills herself, Laure assumes her identity and starts life anew. But paparazzo Nicolas (Antonio Banderas) has been tracking her, and may reveal all her dark secrets.

Director: Brian De Palma
Producer: Tarak Ben Ammar, Marina Gefter
Screenwriter: Brian De Palma
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Quinta Communications
Rating: R (Strong Sexuality|Language|Violence)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 6, 2002, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2009
Box Office (Gross USA): $6.6M
Runtime: 1h 50m
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Dolby A, SDDS, DTS, Surround, Dolby Digital, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)