Single White Female

A first-class thriller that will strike a terrifying note with anyone who's ever met the roommate from hell. [12 Aug 1992]

It's an A-list thriller directed by Barbet Schroeder (Reversal of Fortune, Barfly ) and graced with wonderful performances by Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh. [14 Aug 1992, p.G5]

This is a story which, in other hands, could have simply been an all-female slasher movie, but Barbet Schroeder, who produced and directed it, has a mordant humor that pushes the material over the top. It is a slasher movie, and a little more.

As an esthetic work, the movie is dismissable. As a social artifact, however, it's intriguing. Textually and sub-textually, intentionally or inadvertently, just what is being said here? [14 Aug 1992]

As a psychological case study this is intelligent and adept, with fine performances by both of the lead actresses, and none of the Hitchcockian implications are lost on Schroeder. But there's something dehumanizing about 90s horror thrillers that all but defeats the film's impulses toward seriousness; no matter how much the filmmakers work to make the characters real, the genre contrives to turn them into functions and props.

Single White Female is a frustrating proposition. It has impact, given its two stars. But it spends a lot of time trying to get its footing, find its tone and rhythm. Surprisingly, Schroeder has trouble pacing a film any one of a dozen Hollywood hacks could have handled more sure-handedly. [14 Aug 1992, p.41]

Don Roos's script for Single White Female, from the 1990 potboiler SWF Seeks Same, by John Lutz, is as empty as a hack's head. Schroeder goes through the motions — the movie is elegantly made — but this synthetic Hollywood package panders shamelessly to the baser instincts.

The single white females were beautiful and plenty naked. Camera movement was a annoyingly shaky at times. Solid music, dialogue and effects. It was a good thriller but not as good as other similar ones. The control this woman has involves her being violent and not clever. The suspense isn't as intense as it should be.

This film became very famous, but I don't know how much it deserves its fame. In fact, I found it quite banal and with almost nothing to set it apart from all other psychological thrillers. In this case, it's the story of a young woman looking for a roommate, in order to rent a room and share the expenses of the apartment. She ends up renting it to the only person she should never open the door to: a young woman who is apparently innocent, but who is totally psychopathic and can put her life at risk. The plot is good, but it cannot avoid a sense of mediumship that prevails throughout the film. Despite this, there are some scenes (such as the death of the dog for example) that work wonderfully and leave us suspended and intrigued. The cast is good enough, but too bland and develops average performances in characters that are generally uninteresting or despicable. The cast (and also the script) lack a palatable character that the audience can connect with. Bridget Fonda achieved some notoriety with this film, but left us a very uninteresting heroine with little personality. Steven Weber, who gave life to the heroine's treacherous boyfriend, is hampered by the fact that the character is horrible, very ambiguous and characterized by a lack of morals. Even more unpleasant and worthy of our disgust is the character of Stephen Tobolowsky who, despite this, was good enough to give him credibility. Much more interesting was the performance of Jennifer Jason Leigh, in the role of the villain, harmoniously combining sweetness, an innocent aspect and seemingly endless doses of coldness and calculus. The film also has a very good interpretation of Peter Friedman in the role of a friendly lonely neighbor. Technically, it is an uninteresting film. With a very regular rhythm, there is no brooding over events or dead moments. Cinematography is the standard of the time, and it does not differ from the look it had at the time. There are some good action scenes and several more violent scenes, but they work really well. The sets, costumes and effects are within what we could expect and are not surprising, nor the soundtrack.

On ne va pas se mentir, ce petit thriller de pacotille ne pisse pas loin et vaut surtout le coup d’oeil pour ce beau duo de poulettes plus ou moins vêtues au lever du lit ou en sortant de la **** (entre autres)… ce n’est pas un film érotique pour autant, non, non, mais légèrement voyeur ici et là et franchement, on ne s’en plaint pas. La jolie Bridget est bien jolie et mignonne et porte avec grâce la mini-jupe. Elle joue comme un pied par contre mais ce n’est pas grave au vu de son rôle de midinette et d’apprentie « working girl » naïve !La bien jolie (et sournoise) Jennifer est bien sûr plus intéressante, notamment dans son rôle de fille détraquée… mais l’ensemble du film manque énormément de nervosité, puis se réveille (enfin) dans son dernier tiers qui multiplie hélas les poncifs du thriller moisi et les aberrations d’un scénar de nanar en chute libre ! La mise en scène reste heureusement très appliquée (et soignée) mais ne suffit pas à nous sortir de notre torpeur… malgré les deux actrices très charmantes, oui, oui… mais bon ! voilà quoi. La grâce ne suffit pas, il faut aussi une bien meilleure écriture en amont sinon… le film a l’air con !