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Femme Fatale

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Femme Fatale

R

Released Nov 6, 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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Empire Magazine

Rated: 3/5

Dec 30, 2006

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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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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

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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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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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Pragya Kirti R

DePalma mounts the film with sheer mystery, suave twist n turns and utter sexiness. His ability to present each frame with such uncertainty and creative style is really commendable. It's a masterful work in illustrious cinematography and tempting visuals. DePalma gets a point for this, He holds his Trump till the very scene and then he shows it to you by telling that it wasn't his last card. That's a top notch work in creating shocking thrill. Rebecca O'Connell is fire in and as the femme fatale, She literally controls you through her honey trap moves and tricks throughout the film. She really nails it. Theme is quite good and thoughtful, It's executed in a catchy visual style.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/20/23

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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

Full Review

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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%

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Heaven

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Diva

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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)