To Die For (1995)

August 21, 2022 12:18 PM

Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) is a weather reporter at her small-town cable station, but she dreams of being a big-time news anchor. However, she feels that her middle-class husband (Matt Dillon) is holding her back, so she decides to have him murdered. For this, she enlists Jimmy (Joaquin Phoenix), a high school boy who is enamored with her. The plan doesn't work exactly as she intended, though, and her husband's family starts to suspect that she was involved in his death.

Directed by Gus Van Sant.

88% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently available for digital rental on multiple outlets.

posted by DirtyOldTown (6 comments total)

Not to be confused with the vampire movie released a few years earlier under the same name!
posted by praemunire at 12:36 PM on August 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

Nicole Kidman's sense of comic timing is absolute perfection! And the end-title sequence as one long shot of the ice-skating performance is a delight. Brilliant performances all around.
posted by techSupp0rt at 12:57 PM on August 21, 2022 [7 favorites]

The novel it's based on is absolutely worth reading. Very underrated, IMO.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 2:09 PM on August 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

"Gangbusters!"
posted by abraxasaxarba at 2:45 PM on August 21, 2022

I used to work in a place where one of the apprentices was so obsessed with this movie that his car had "2DIE4" vanity plates. I suppose that's an endorsement of a sort, but..
posted by Nerd of the North at 6:32 PM on August 21, 2022

Really remarkable cast. I think that this was the first place I'd seen David Cronenberg act, and his turn was great in a chilling way.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:28 AM on August 22, 2022