| The Last Seduction | |
| Director: | John Dahl |
| Producer: | Jonathan Shestack |
| Music: | Joseph Vitarelli |
| Cinematography: | Jeff Jur |
| Editing: | Eric L. Beason |
| Studio: | ITC Entertainment |
| Distributor: | October Films |
| Runtime: | 110 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $2.5 million (estimated)[1] |
| Gross: | $5,842,603[2] |
The Last Seduction is a 1994 American neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by John Dahl, featuring Linda Fiorentino, Peter Berg, and Bill Pullman.[3] It was produced by ITC Entertainment and distributed by October Films.
Fiorentino's performance garnered acclaim and generated talk of an Academy Award nomination, but she was deemed ineligible because the film was shown on HBO before its theatrical release. October Films and ITC Entertainment sued the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences but were unable to make Fiorentino eligible for a nomination.[4] [5]
The Last Seduction has gained a cult following over time, and its main character, Bridget Gregory, has been recognized as one of the most iconic femme fatales.[6] [7] [8] In 2019, the British Film Institute included the movie, along with Gone Girl and Death Becomes Her, in a program dedicated to exploring "wickedly compelling female characters on screen."[9] The film was also featured in The Criterion Channel's Neonoir series in July 2021.[10] The Last Seduction II was released in 1999. It featured none of the original cast and starred Joan Severance as Bridget Gregory.[11]
Bridget Gregory works as a telemarketing manager in New York City. Her husband, Clay, a physician in debt to a loan 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 near Buffalo. 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, a reversal of "New York", 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 his credit reports, Bridget devises a plan based on selling murders to cheated wives. When Mike objects, they argue and he leaves. A private 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, who is transgender. 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 old ladies 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 about Trish 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 multi-million-dollar life insurance payout. In a limousine, she burns the apartment label, the only evidence linking her to Clay's death.
Screenwriter Steve Barancik said he believed the film was originally pitched to ITC Entertainment as a "standard Skinemax" low-budget movie, 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 with John 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 a cheerleader and wears suspenders 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 an art 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. It holds a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 51 reviews. The website's consensus reads: "Like Body Heat, The Last Seduction updates film noir techniques for a modern era, imbuing this erotic film with '90s snark." On Metacritic it has a score of 85 out of 100 based on 12 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars, highlighting Fiorentino's ability to project her character with dry humor and a freedom from Hollywood conventions typically surrounding a female antagonist. Ebert later ranked the film fifth on his year-end list of 1994's best movies. He wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times:
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAFTA Awards[25] | Linda Fiorentino | |||
| 1994 | Chicago Film Critics Awards[26] | Linda Fiorentino | ||
| 1994 | Cognac Festival du Film Policier[27] | Critics Award | John Dahl | |
| 1995 | Directors Guild of America Awards[28] | Outstanding Achievement in Dramatic Specials | John Dahl | |
| 1995 | Best Motion Picture | Steve Barancik | ||
| 1995 | Independent Spirit Awards[29] | Best Female Lead | Linda Fiorentino | |
| 1995 | Actress of the Year | Linda Fiorentino | ||
| 1994 | Mystfest | Best Film | John Dahl | |
| 1994 | Best TV Film | |||
| 1994 | New York Film Critics Circle Awards[30] | Best Actress | Linda Fiorentino | |
| 1994 | Best Actress | Linda Fiorentino | ||