Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Female Perversions

Play trailer Poster for Female Perversions R 1996 1h 50m Drama LGBTQ+ Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
67% Tomatometer 21 Reviews 45% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Evelyn (Tilda Swinton) is a lawyer who is soon to become a judge, but her intense focus on her career has resulted in a cold demeanor and passion-filled but ultimately dissatisfying personal life. She has a boyfriend (Clancy Brown) and a lover (Karen Sillas) but connects with neither. When her sister, Maddie (Amy Madigan), gets caught shoplifting, however, and she goes to the middle of nowhere to save her, Eve gets the chance to learn more about her own demons and troubled childhood.
Watch on Fandango at Home Stream Now

Where to Watch

Female Perversions

Critics Reviews

View More
Emanuel Levy Variety 06/27/2006
3/4
The women (played by Tilda Swinton and Amy Madigan) are so intriguing and complex that they almost overcome the trappings of a non-linear narrative that's borderline academic. Go to Full Review
Rick Groen Globe and Mail 04/12/2002
3/4
The result is short on plot but long on observational detail and psychological resonance. Go to Full Review
Kevin Thomas Los Angeles Times 02/14/2001
Even if it works better as a provocative psychological treatise than as art, it does come alive and does provide major roles for Tilda Swinton and Amy Madigan. Go to Full Review
Michele Kort The Advocate 04/05/2022
It's a challenge to adapt a nonfiction book about sex into a fictional film. Lesbian director-cowriter Susan Streitfeld meets the test in her darkly funny, absurdist adaptation of Louise J. Kaplan's Female Perversions. Go to Full Review
Ren Jender Bitch Flicks 03/08/2019
I'm not sure I've ever seen nudity used as well in a film as it is in Perversions. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 05/31/2013
C+
I could never warm up to any of the characters or their perversions or neuroses. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
04/26/2022 Tilda Swinton in one of her earliest roles directed by Susan Streitfeld The journey of a woman balancing work, sex, insecurity, and stability based on the book by Louise J. Kaplan Evelyn is a lawyer who is soon to become a judge, but her intense focus on her career has resulted in a cold demeanor and passion-filled but ultimately dissatisfying personal life She has a boyfriend (Clancy Brown) and a lover (Karen Sillas) but connects with neither Eve is filled with self-doubt and struggles to find satisfaction while conforming to society's expectations of her as a woman She is troubled by erotic nightmares and flashbacks to the lives of her parents, centering on her unfeeling father and the suspicious death of her mother, Beth When her sister, Maddie (Amy Madigan), gets caught shoplifting, however, and she goes to the middle of nowhere to save her, Eve gets the chance to learn more about her own demons and troubled childhood There's so much talking in this and not enough thrills Despite some erotic scenes and dream like sequences feeling like a Tarsem Sighn experience it feels very meandering Clancy Brown is barely in the movie and there's hardly a reason to care about Swinton's ordeal This is very short on plot that's for sure that works better as psychological treatise Yet it's haunting in several ways that'll have you think time and again even if it's bathed in its own symbolism See more 02/01/2022 L'estrema attenzione con cui viene creato il personaggio di Tilda Swindon offre un punto di partenza ottimo, solido e credibile. Questa attenzione è riportata con successo anche nella ricerca dell'erotico e della tensione sessuale; di cui la protagonista ne è perfetta incarnazione. Purtroppo i lati favorevoli si fermano qui, la trama seppure interessante è poco esplorata e lascia troppo spazio ad una versione onirica dei dilemmi e dei problemi della sua protagonista; che per giunta non viene supportata con egual costruzione da tutti i restanti personaggi, molto più piatti e monotematici. See more 08/01/2014 Slow-moving and self-important. See more 04/24/2013 mixed-up kinda movie - more plots than a daytime soapy. See more 02/20/2012 Aptly named, this film depicts several activities labeled perverse by society at large, yet through those revelations we come to understand the demons that Evelyn (Tilda Swinton) is facing down. Strong performances by Swinton and Amy Madigan, as her (younger? older?) sister, Madelyn propel the film. Both women are successful, Evelyn as an attorney being considered for a judgeship, and Madelyn as a doctoral candidate about to make her oral defense of her thesis, and both women get a less than enthusiastic response from their emotionally distant father when they try to share their news. Excellent use of dreams, fantasy, and flashback to help the viewer understand Evelyn's fragility and somewhat self-destructive behaviors. Good supporting cast, with only a couple of weak links, and an interesting side-story concerning a young girl struggling with identity issues helped to keep it from veering off into pure psycho-drama. Good to see Karen Sillas, a personal favorite in a small role here. See more 10/13/2011 Meh. Too much bi-sexual fantasy scenes. See more Read all reviews
Female Perversions

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
When Night Is Falling 56% 80% When Night Is Falling Watchlist The Deep End 82% 59% The Deep End Watchlist Sleep With Me 21% 50% Sleep With Me Watchlist High Art 78% 77% High Art Watchlist Foxfire 47% 65% Foxfire Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Evelyn (Tilda Swinton) is a lawyer who is soon to become a judge, but her intense focus on her career has resulted in a cold demeanor and passion-filled but ultimately dissatisfying personal life. She has a boyfriend (Clancy Brown) and a lover (Karen Sillas) but connects with neither. When her sister, Maddie (Amy Madigan), gets caught shoplifting, however, and she goes to the middle of nowhere to save her, Eve gets the chance to learn more about her own demons and troubled childhood.
Director
Susan Streitfeld
Producer
Mindy Affrime
Screenwriter
Susan Streitfeld, Julie Hébert
Distributor
October Films, Lakeshore Entertainment
Production Co
Starhaus Filmproduktion GmbH, ARD Degeto Film
Rating
R
Genre
Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 22, 1996, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 31, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$884.0K
Runtime
1h 50m
Most Popular at Home Now