Fatale Review: A Solid Performance By Swank In A Suspenseful Story

Release date: December 18, 2020
Running time: 101 minutes
Starring: Hilary Swank, Michael Ealy, Mike Colter, Danny Pino, Tyrin Turner, Damaris Lewis  
Directed by: Deon Taylor 
Written by: David Loughery 

After a wild one-night stand, Derrick (Michael Ealy), a successful sports agent, watches his perfect life slowly disappear when he discovers that the sexy and mysterious woman he risked everything for, is a determined police detective (Hilary Swank) who entangles him in her latest investigation. As he tries desperately to put the pieces together, he falls deeper into her trap, risking his family, his career, and even his life. 

Fatale starts off as a pretty predictable thriller with a random hook up that should have ended there.  But then it starts to get more interesting as more and more strands in this spiders web are laid.  However, even during the initial hook up Hillary Swank reminds us why she is such an amazing actor by showing her devious side.  She is the master of little looks and pauses to introduce double meaning in the most mundane things.  And she also has this great sinister sense of delivery that sets the tone perfectly.  Michael Ealy, the other main star, starts off awkward as well but he starts to grow on you.  However, he never quite feels natural, which is more noticeable next to Swank.  I think he did a fine job as Derrick, but he sometimes felt out of place in this game of cat and mouse.  

And as previously mentioned, the story of Fatale starts off conventional but then adds some additional intrigue as the characters, their motivations, and their predicaments intertwine. The story gets a little overly complicated and some of the motivations and actions just don't make sense, but it has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing.  It has a really good twist part way through, then some predictable but still thrilling twists afterwards.  And some of the characters make some poor choices but that might just be inexperience in playing this game.  Additionally, throughout this story you have some really beautiful locales as this film is set in some very expensive places in Los Angeles and the surrounding area.  There are beautiful beach scenes, fabulous mansions, and some very fast cars throughout this film.  

However, this film has a few issues.  First and foremost the story at times seems overly complex.  And I didn't necessarily know when chance ended and the plot began.  It's not fully wrapped up or explained in the film, and that can leave the ending a little unsatisfying.  And the ending itself comes relatively abruptly with a major scene and then a quick wrap up.  I wish there was more explanation about what happened because the implications of the end scene were pretty dire.  It also doesn't explain some of the consequences that should have happened from the ending and other choices during the story.  Additionally, the film doesn't have many effects, but there are a couple bad CG and action scenes.  In one scene a person reacts before they should and in another a wound looks to have been inserted via CG.

Fatale is a suspenseful whodunit with an entertaining performance by Hillary Swank and a story with plenty of intrigue, betrayal, and double crossing.  

Rent it.

If you liked this review and want to see more from Watch or Pass, please consider 

following us on our various social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube. 

Fatale is available in theaters on December 18, 2020 and digitally January 8, 2021.

For additional information about the film and to rent / buy it, check it out at the links below.

This site contains affiliate links. //Commerce or this site may be compensated when you click through links on our site.