FATALE (2020) – A bloody waste of time

Let me get straight to the point here. Set aside any expectations of yours for Fatale to be some sort of modern day equivalent of those sexy thrillers from the 80’s and 90’s like Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct. You will not get anything remotely close to the steamy sex or captivating plots of those early femme fatale tales.

What we do have here is Hillary Swank as the femme fatale to Michael Ealy’s successful businessman. The plot starts of reasonably well with the customary one-night stand that we all know will only serve to come back to haunt the protagonist. However, the plot gets more and more ridiculous as it gets thicker. The motivation for the crimes that transpire are only stuff that Hollywood can dream of and have little or no resemblance of basic logic. The script is also painfully simplistic and lazy. The characters are often made to utter out silly explanations on what’s happening to as a way to help the viewer follow the often absurd story.

It is painful and sad to see a two times Academy Award winner Hillary Swank sink so low in her career to take on such an undemanding role in a thriller that is neither thrilling or cheesy. At least her co-star, Michael Ealy doesn’t have any reputation I am aware of to lose. I know it is still early days, but I think I might already have a contender for Worst Film for 2021 with Fatale!