Female Perversions (1997)
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67% of critics liked it
(21 reviews) -
44% of users liked it
(856 ratings)
An outwardly successful woman teeters on the brink of emotional collapse in this psychological drama. Evelyn Stevens (Tilda Swinton) is a skilled and well-regarded attorney who is being considered for a prestigious judicial appointment. However, she's plagued by self-doubt and neurotic… More An outwardly successful woman teeters on the brink of emotional collapse in this psychological drama. Evelyn Stevens (Tilda Swinton) is a skilled and well-regarded attorney who is being considered for a prestigious judicial appointment. However, she's plagued by self-doubt and neurotic obsessions (the "perversions" referenced in the title), including an obsession with expensive clothes and cosmetics, lingering fears about her relationship with her lover John (Clancy Brown), an exaggerated sense of competition with the new lawyer in her office, and an intense sexual curiosity about Renee (Karen Sillas), the psychiatrist who has just moved into her building. Evelyn is forced to put her own problems on hold for the moment when she learns that her sister Madelyn (Amy Madigan), a Ph.D candidate struggling to complete her doctoral thesis, has been arrested again for shoplifting. In time, the two sisters realize that they have to come to terms with the psychic damage inflicted upon them in their childhood. Female Perversions was based on the best-selling novel by Louise J. Kaplan. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Susan Streitfeld
- Written By
- Julie Hebert, Susan Streitfeld, Julie Hébert
- Genres
- Art House & International, Drama
R,
- In Theaters
- Apr 25, 1997 Wide
- Studio
- Trimark
Critic Reviews
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Emanuel Levy, Variety
The women (played by Tilda Swinton and Amy Madigan) are so intriguing and complex that they almost overcome the trappings of a non-linear narrative that's borderline academic.
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Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
The result is short on plot but long on observational detail and psychological resonance.
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Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Even if it works better as a provocative psychological treatise than as art, it does come alive and does provide major roles for Tilda Swinton and Amy Madigan.
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James Berardinelli, ReelViews
Often too pretentious to be profound.
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Jeff Millar, Houston Chronicle
Taken as a whole, this is not a product of the cookie cutter and should be of interest to the adventurous filmgoer.
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Cast
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Tilda Swinton
as Evelyn Stevens
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Amy Madigan
as Madelyn Stevens
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Karen Sillas
as Renee
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Laila Robins
as Emma
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Clancy Brown
as John
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Frances Fisher
as Annuncata
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Marcia Cross
as Evelyn's Mother
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Lisa Jane Persky
as Margot
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Paulina Porizkova
as Langley
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Dale Shuger
as Ed
- John Diehl
- Sandy Martin
