Fatale (2020)

 Score: 2.5 / 5

A sleek and stylish new erotic thriller? Strong aesthetic references to genre roots of the '80s? Plot twists and sexy costumes? A stunning trio of gorgeous actors? And did I mention Hilary Swank -- who has only supported in a bizarre smattering of movies in the last decade -- as the titular femme fatale? Yes, please!

Or, rather, mostly. It's yet another Deon Taylor movie in all the bittersweet senses that credit evokes. I've actually enjoyed the other two movies of his I've seen (Supremacy and Black and Blue), though I'd never rave about them, and I've not really been interested in any others. It's not, I think, that he's a bad director in any falsely objective way, but his vision is usually limited to visual sensation, or as Romeo's friar might say, violent delights. Here, his sleek aesthetic manifests in eyeballing beauty: of his actors, their clothes, their cars, their houses. He follows the all-too familiar plot with a languid, luxurious pace, hoping to draw us with its lurid pleasures. And when the action hits, it hits hard.

The story concerns Derrick (Michael Ealy), a successful sports agent who has a one-night stand with Val (Hilary Swank) while at a bachelor party in Vegas. She's a little spooky, something that clearly intrigues Derrick, even when, attempting to leave at dawn, he discovers she locked his cell phone in the room safe and won't return it unless he gets back in bed. Not long after returning home, Derrick and his wife (Damaris Lewis) are attacked by a home invader. It's a surprisingly violent scene, but things turn worse once the detective assigned to the case shows up. It's Val, and she is not happy that he's married. What happens in Vegas, apparently, doesn't always stay in Vegas.

From here on out, the soapy melodramatic revelations and twists come quickly and without too much consequence. The more I tried to involve myself with the plot, the more I found it dizzying, especially when another affair is revealed involving Derrick's best friend Rafe (Mike Colter, who really deserved a better role). Other messy sequences include Val being attacked by Derrick's cousin with a criminal history, or Val stalking her ex-husband and their daughter, vying to reclaim custody. Thankfully, Swank is up to the bizarre task and manages to keep things grounded, when camping it up would have been a tempting choice. Steely and wicked, her menacing presence is fascinating, even and especially when the unfocused screenplay tries to make us sympathize with her. These scenes, however, do less to help our perception of her character than they make her appear even more unstable, especially when they are paired with her flashbacks of being drunk and endangering her daughter.

Ultimately, Fatale is fun if you like this sort of sleazy thing, but it never really manages to supply what it promised. There is very little actual sex and only a few effective thrills, which doesn't make for much of an erotic thriller. Taylor keeps things moving along between gorgeous houses and offices, shot beautifully by Dante Spinotti, and it's all entertaining enough for a cold, wintry day. I liked it better than the last erotic thriller I remember seeing, Acrimony, but I'd certainly like a more satisfying entry in the genre sometime soon!