Wild Things

Wild Things; erotic thriller, USA, 1998; D: John McNaughton, S: Matt Dillon, Denise Richards, Kevin Bacon, Neve Campbell, Theresa Russell, Bill Murray, Robert Wagner, Daphne Rubin-Vega

Florida. Police Sergent Ray Duquette has an important motto: "People aren't always what they appear to be". In his small town really strange things start to occur: students Suzie Toller and Kelly Van Ryan accuse Sam Lombardo, a high school guidance counselor who already slept with half of women in town, of rape. Sam hires lawyer Bowden who saves him on trial and even demolishes Suzie's accusations, who admits she and Kelly lied about the rape. Sam gets an 8 million $ settlement from the Van Ryan's—and it turns out he, Kelly and Suzy all worked together to get the money. Sam murders Suzie, while Ray shoots Kelly. It turns out Sam and Ray have been secretly working all along too. Sam kills Ray. But Suzy just fabricated her death and kills Sam, and thus gets all the money.

In a time where "The Sixth Sense", "Se7en" and "Fight Club" had twist endings, "Wild Things" takes the cake for having as many plot twists as all those films put together. Without exaggeration, the cynical screenplay by Stephen Peters has at least five plot twists—most of which happen even after the closing credits!—turning into a film where every 30 minutes represent the negation of the previous ones, thus every character turns out evil and two-faced: it's as if the movies makes us ask: "Can people really pretend to be absolutely innocent and then turn out absolutely evil?", and then answers it with: "Yes". Even though the story may seem slightly inconsistent, at close examination it's actually surprisingly plausible—one only has to have in mind one little, overlooked detail at the end, that features an amazing quote about Suzy: "She has an IQ around 200. She can do whatever she puts her mind to"— and is actually very consistent plot crafting. But, alas, the development of the characters and depth don't follow the surprises of the twists, exhausting themselves only as one-dimensional gimmicks with heavy construction. Still, if one doesn't seek something more, "Wild Things" are surprisingly dark, sharp and effective entertainment, with the first 40 minutes working almost as a dark satire on the MeToo movemevent 20 years before it happened, whereas the director John McNaughton crafts a homage to erotic thrillers from the early 90s ("Basic Instinct", "Sliver"). It has some stylish-aesthetic images, moments of outburst of energy (10 minutes in, it features Third Eye Blind's song "Semi-Charmed Life" in a neat scene), a funny Bill Murray as the lawyer with a Shanz collar, and an effective Denise Richards as seductive Kelly, all amounting to a crime film not even Hitchcock would be ashamed off.

Grade:++