Fatal Attraction

They certainly had big boots to fill here because "Fatal Attraction," with Michael Douglas, upon being released in 1987, became at the time one of the pivotal movies that inspired the erotic thrillers' phenomenon that went on for the next two decades or so, offering us amazing neo-noirs such as "Basic Instinct" & "Original Sin," and here we are 36 years later having a TV series based on it. This tells us a lot about the kind of impact the OG 80s film has had on Hollywood and the industry in general. Obviously having the expansion treatment to fit the requirements of a totally different format, it must have been very difficult for the writers to reimagine what was a shorter story and flesh it out in a way that is capable of hitting the desired spot for core fans, while simultaneously living up to the public's expectation, which by the way has been set extremely high by this amazing trailer. Jump into this if you want, but don't expect anything out of the ordinary, because not only are the storylines and characters way too complex to follow and understand, but the series also takes ages to hit its strides, and is quite honestly not as memorable, nor will it be as timeless as the original work it is based on.

As the plot summary so eloquently puts it:

It is "a deep-dive reimagining of the classic's thriller, exploring timeless themes of marriage and infidelity through the lens of modern attitudes toward strong women, personality disorders and coercive control".

Keyword here is 're-imagination'. The TV series certainly has a different vibe/demeanor to it.

There's a huge twist in the last episode. Motivations, what drives people to do what they do, conflicts, misunderstandings, baggages, perceptions, perspectives, people's influences on one another, how a person gets molded into who they are, human psychology, it's all at play there.

There's probably a season 2 coming. I would certainly look forward to it.

I've read a few reviews criticizing the show: saying that the cast isn't attractive enough- especially the actress playing Alex... I'm not sure why people are expecting a soap opera looking cast and for Dan to find a sultry Jennifer Lopez look a-like in the office but whatever. It's not a Lifetime movie here. Lizzy Caplan's Alex is pretty, like a real woman pretty. She's also a great actress, being creepy and sympathetic at the same time.

Only 4 episodes in and I think it's a decent slow burn moody show. The actors do a pretty great job. I always enjoy seeing Joshua Jackson. It's also nice to see Amanda Peet. I love 80's horror/thrillers so I'm trying not to compare this show to the 80's one. Obviously some (most) are going to prefer the very entertaining 80's Fatal Attraction over this one but I think you can like both!

The movie was one of a kind, and the show seems to be taking the premise and exploring Alex's side more deeply, while possibly adhering to the original ending the movie had, but never stuck to. It's certainly worthwhile in 2023 to finally explore Alex's story, but this show doesn't capture what made the movie so special.

The acting is good, the writing is so so, but it's simply missing the magic of the movie. Maybe it's a lack of chemistry among the leads, or that the present day unravelling of the mystery/Dan's daughter's storyline feeling clunky. I'll probably stick with it to see how things play out, but I'm not disturbed and captivated the way I am during the movie (and I've seen it many times).

I could not wait until this new "Fatal Attraction" came out because the original was my all time favorite movies back then. I had such high hopes for this one and was let down. They went completely off the story line, with flash backs of how Alex was stalking Dan at the beginning was a complete waste of time. This definitely was not a thriller its more of a lifetime movie. The original movie I was at the edge of my seat I could not take my eyes of the screen. This one I was just waiting for something intense to happen.

Especially for 2023 they could of added some real wtf scenes but they did not! Ido not think I will finish this series in fact I will watch the original for the twentieth time!!!