Fatal Attraction
2023 Series
Directed by Silver Tree & Pete Chatmon
★★½
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Through the modern lens of today’s culture, many film and television classics from past decades are getting the revisionist treatment. This time around, Paramount + is ditching the familiar film format and offering a series take on the 1987 Glenn Close-starring Fatal Attraction.
Whether or not you’ve seen the late-80s hit or not, you’ve undoubtedly felt its influence throughout various Hollywood outputs since its conception. Unfaithful, Basic Instinct, Obsessed, and so many other erotic thrillers take direct inspiration from it, so Paramount + set out with a lot to prove.
Set over the course of eight episodes, the series adapts a different sort of story-telling format, opting to show viewers glimpses of before and after a major event takes place while still managing to keep some mystery alive. A bunch of the characters have the same name and, loosely, the same motivations, yet Paramount + knows that this is 2023 and not 1987, so a little bit of updating takes place. Specifically, with Lizzy Caplan’s Alex Forrest (originally played by Close), we see more character depth and backstory. Though she is still a “woman scorned,” Caplan brings a certain gravitas and muted depth that keeps the audience somewhat fond of her.
Yet, try as they might to update the storyline, the series still has the same major flaws that the film version had. The show centers on Joshua Jackson’s soon-to-be-appointed judge, Dan Gallagher, and his tryst and ultimately secret relationship with one of his subordinates. The series knows this is an issue but can’t quite seem to criticize Gallagher quite enough for his actions. He still feels like the film’s hero throughout, even when he makes very questionable decisions.
Fatal Attraction also doesn’t do quite enough to make Alex Forrest not look like just another crazy broad. Mental health is a serious issue, and it needs to be tackled with the most delicate of approaches, and although it tries, the series still seems to damn her on just about every page of the script.
Tonally, it's a bit of a mish-mash, not quite finding its footing for a while, but by the time it does, it will reel you in and hook you, baiting you until its final credits. I know the way the mystery wraps up will be controversial for some, but it made sense and worked for me. What the series does after this resolution comes, however, did not.
Overall, the cast is great, with Caplan, Jackson, Toby Huss, Amanda Peet, and Brian Goodman all getting the chance to shine. But the way the series concludes is just downright baffling. And while I can appreciate the few clues that were sprinkled throughout the course of the show’s eight-episode span, I can’t help but feel like it came out of nowhere. It feels like a studio-interfering cash grab, and it will leave you with one hell of a sour taste in your mouth. Unfortunately, the meal that came before it isn’t enough to make it worth choking down.
