| The Last Seduction | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John Dahl |
| Written by | Steve Barancik |
| Produced by | Jonathan Shestack |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Jeffrey Jur |
| Edited by | Eric L. Beason |
| Music by | Joseph Vitarelli |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | October Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 110 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2.5 million (est.)[1] |
| Box office | $5.8 million[2] |
The Last Seduction is a 1994 Americanneo-noirerotic thriller film directed byJohn Dahl and starringLinda Fiorentino,Peter Berg, andBill Pullman.[3] It was produced byITC Entertainment and distributed byOctober Films.
Fiorentino's performance garnered acclaim and generated talk of anAcademy Award nomination, but she was deemed ineligible because the film was broadcast in July 1994 onHBO before its theatrical release on October 26. October Films and ITC Entertainment sued theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences but were unable to make Fiorentino eligible for a nomination.[4][5]
The Last Seduction has gained acult following over time, and its main character, Bridget Gregory, has been recognized as one of the most iconicfemme fatales.[6][7][8] In 2019, theBritish Film Institute included the film, along withGone Girl andDeath Becomes Her, in a program dedicated to exploring "wickedly compelling female characters on screen."[9] The film was also featured inThe Criterion Channel'sNeonoir series in July 2021.[10] Adirect-to-video sequel,The Last Seduction II, was released in 1999, featuring none of the original cast and starringJoan Severance as Bridget Gregory.[11]
Bridget Gregory works as a telemarketing manager in New York City. Her husband, Clay, a physician in debt to aloan shark, sells pharmaceutical cocaine to drug dealers for $700,000. At home, Clay slaps Bridget after she insults him. She flees their apartment with the money, headed to Chicago.
Bridget stops in Beston, a small town nearBuffalo. She has sex with Mike Swale, a local man back from a whirlwind marriage in Buffalo, which he refuses to talk about. Bridget changes her name to Wendy Kroy, and takes a job at the insurance company where Mike works. They begin a relationship, but Bridget refuses to tell Mike about her past.
When Mike tells her how to tell if a man is cheating on his wife by reading hiscredit reports, Bridget devises a plan based on selling murders to cheated wives. When Mike objects, they argue and he leaves. Aprivate detective hired by Clay, Harlan, holds Bridget at gunpoint in her car. Bridget tricks him into removing his seatbelt, then purposely crashes her car, killing him. As Harlan was black, she takes advantage of local racism to persuade the police to close the case without investigation.
Bridget lies to Mike that she has traveled to Florida to kill Lance Collier, an abusive husband. Instead, she goes to Buffalo to meet Mike's ex-wife, Trish. Upon returning, Bridget shows Mike the money she stole from Clay, claiming it is her cut of the life insurance payout from the Florida job. She tells Mike they can start a life together with the money, but insists he must murder a tax lawyer in New York who is cheating elderly women out of their homes. When he refuses, Bridget forges a letter from Trish saying she is moving to Beston. Desperate to avoid Trish, Mike accepts the job.
Bridget swaps the name on Clay's door with the name of the attorney Mike believes he has been sent to kill. Mike enters the apartment and handcuffs Clay. Clay realizes what is happening when Mike mentions Bridget's alias and shows Mike a photo of himself and Bridget together. They form a plan to double-cross her. When Bridget arrives, Clay tries to make amends with her, but she empties a pepper spray bottle down his throat, killing him. She tells a stunned Mike to "rape" her. When he refuses, she tells him she knows that Trish is transgender and goads him with homophobic slurs. While Mike has rough sex with her, she dials 911 and allows them to listen, incriminating Mike. He is jailed for rape and murder, while Bridget escapes with Clay's money and multimillion-dollar life insurance payout. In a limousine, she burns the apartment label, the only evidence linking her to Clay's death.
ScreenwriterSteve Barancik said he believed the film was originally pitched toITC Entertainment as a "standardSkinemax" low-budget film, even though the filmmakers had "an under-the-radar intention to make a good movie."[4]Linda Fiorentino said of accepting the role, "After I read that script, I was in Arizona and I got in a car and drove six hours to get to the meeting because I had never read anything so unique in terms of a female character. And I walked in the meeting withJohn Dahl, the director, and I said, 'John, you are not allowed to hire anyone but me for this film.' And I wasn't kidding."[12]
ITC Entertainment executives were upset with a scene in which Fiorentino is dressed as acheerleader and wearssuspenders over her breasts. Barancik recalled, "Apparently, a guy from the company who was monitoring things and watching the dailies saw the suspenders over Linda's nipples and shouted out, 'Are we making anart movie?!' He shut down production and called the principals of the movie on the carpet, and they all had to pledge that they had no artistic pretensions."[4] The scene was cut, and the sexual role-playing theme was lost.[4]
Peter Berg said it was Fiorentino's idea to shoot the chain-link-fence sex scene in that way. "She said, 'John, get a camera,' and she climbed up on me against that fence and told John Dahl to shoot it, and that was the scene. She thought of it, she conceived it, she executed it. It was awesome."[13]
The Last Seduction received critical acclaim. OnRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 94% based on 50 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "LikeBody Heat,The Last Seduction updates film noir techniques for a modern era, imbuing this erotic film with '90s snark."[14] OnMetacritic, which assigns aweighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 85, based on 12 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[15]Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars, highlighting Fiorentino's ability to project her character withdry humor and a freedom from Hollywood conventions typically surrounding a female antagonist.[16] Ebert later ranked the film fifth on his year-end list of 1994's best films.[17] He wrote in theChicago Sun-Times:
John Dahl'sThe Last Seduction knows how much we enjoy seeing a character work boldly outside the rules. It gives us a diabolical, evil woman, and goes the distance with her. We keep waiting for the movie to lose its nerve, and it never does: This woman is bad from beginning to end, she never reforms, she never compromises, and the movie doesn't tack on one of those contrived conclusions where the morals squad comes in and tidies up.[16]
DirectorQuentin Tarantino ratedThe Last Seduction at number 77 of his favorite films.[18]
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | BAFTA Awards[29] | Best Actress | Linda Fiorentino | Nominated |
| 1994 | Chicago Film Critics Awards[30] | Best Actress | Linda Fiorentino | Nominated |
| 1994 | Cognac Festival du Film Policier[31] | Critics Award | John Dahl | Won |
| 1995 | Directors Guild of America Awards[32] | Outstanding Achievement in Dramatic Specials | John Dahl | Nominated |
| 1995 | Edgar Allan Poe Awards | Best Motion Picture | Steve Barancik | Nominated |
| 1995 | Independent Spirit Awards[33] | Best Female Lead | Linda Fiorentino | Won |
| 1995 | London Film Critics Circle Awards | Actress of the Year | Linda Fiorentino | Won |
| 1994 | Mystfest | Best Film | John Dahl | Nominated |
| 1994 | National Board of Review Awards | Best TV Film | Won | |
| 1994 | New York Film Critics Circle Awards[34] | Best Actress | Linda Fiorentino | Won |
| 1994 | Society of Texas Film Critics Awards | Best Actress | Linda Fiorentino | Won |
