''Fatal Attraction'' is an American

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sculp ...

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a Film genre, genre combining the thriller (genre), thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting ...

television series developed by

Alexandra Cunningham Alexandra Cunningham (born 1972/73) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and television producer. From 1998 through 2000, she attended the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at The Juilliard School. Her plays include ''The Th ...

and Kevin J. Hynes. It is based on the 1987 film of the same name written by James Dearden. The series aired on

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

from April 30 to May 28, 2023. In October 2023, the series was cancelled after one season.

Premise

A passionate affair takes a volatile and dangerous turn when a woman refuses to allow her married lover to put an end to it.

Cast and characters

Main

Joshua Jackson Joshua Carter Jackson (born June 11, 1978) is an American and Canadian actor. He is known for his portrayals of Pacey Witter on The WB's teen drama ''Dawson's Creek'' (1998–2003), Peter Bishop in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox science fic ...

as Dan Gallagher, a Los Angeles deputy district attorney who serves as the head of the Major Crimes Bureau *

Lizzy Caplan Elizabeth Anne Caplan (born June 30, 1982) is an American actress. Her performances as Virginia E. Johnson in the Showtime series '' Masters of Sex'' (2013–2016) and as Libby Epstein in FX on Hulu's '' Fleishman Is in Trouble'' (2022) have e ...

as Alex Forrest, a newly hired member of the Victim Services Bureau *

Amanda Peet Amanda Peet (born January 11, 1972) is an American actress. She began her career with small parts on television before making her feature film debut in ''Animal Room'' (1995). Her portrayal of Jill St. Claire in ''The Whole Nine Yards (film), Th ...

as Beth Gallagher, Dan's wife and Ellen's mother *

Toby Huss Tobias Huss (born December 9, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Artie in the Nickelodeon series '' The Adventures of Pete & Pete'' (1993–1996). He is also known for his voice-over work on the long-running animated series ''K ...

as Mike Gerard, the DA office's chief of investigations and Dan's close friend * Brian Goodman as Arthur Tomlinson, Beth's best friend and business partner * Alyssa Jirrels as Ellen Gallagher, Dan and Beth's daughter and a psychology student ** Vivien Lyra Blair as young Ellen *

Reno Wilson Roy "Reno" Wilson (born January 20, 1969) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Howard in the sitcom '' The Cosby Show'', Officer Carl McMillan in '' Mike & Molly'', Stan Hill in '' Good Girls'', Wes in '' The Chronicle'' (2001 ...

as Detective Earl Booker, an

LAPD The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

officer

Recurring

John Getz John William Getz (born October 15, 1946) is an American character actor. After starting his acting career on stage, he has appeared in numerous television series and films, most notably ''Blood Simple'', '' The Fly'', and ''The Social Network' ...

as Warren, Beth's father *

Jessica Harper Jessica Randolph Harper (born October 3, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Harper began her feature film career with a starring role in Brian De Palma's '' Phantom of the Paradise'' (1974), and subsequently featured in films including '' ...

as Sophie, Beth's mother *

Toks Olagundoye Olatokunbo Susan Olasobunmi Abeke "Toks" Olagundoye (born 16 September 1975) is a Nigerian actress known for playing Jackie Joyner-Kersee on '' The Neighbors'', Hayley Shipton on ''Castle'' and Olivia Finch on ''Frasier''. She also voices Nanefu ...

as Conchita Lewis, the head of the Victim Services Bureau, Alex's boss, and Dan's close friend * Wanda De Jesus as Marcella Levya, a respected attorney and Dan's boss * David Meunier as Richard Macksey, Ellen's psychology professor and thesis advisor * Walter Perez as Jorge Perez, a deputy district attorney * Tiago Roberts as Gabriel Ibarra, a courthouse

bailiff A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary. Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...

* David Sullivan as Frank Gallardo, Dan's Major Crimes co-worker * Isabella Briggs as Stella, a student who befriends Ellen and is having a secret affair with Richard * Holley Fain as Julia Tomlinson, Arthur's wife

Guest

* Terri Hoyos as Beatrice, a criminal defense attorney *

Christina Kirk Christina Kirk is an American actress. Career Kirk appeared in Woody Allen's '' Melinda and Melinda'' and Ira Sachs' ''Love Is Strange''. She was also a series regular on '' A to Z'', and most recently played Jackie in the DC Comics TV serie ...

as Angela, Ellen's therapist *

Dee Wallace Deanna Wallace (née Bowers), also known as Dee Wallace Stone (born December 14, 1948), is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Mary Taylor in the 1982 Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbuster science-fiction film ''E.T. the E ...

as Emma Rauch, Alex's neighbor * Cliff Chamberlain as Stanley Forrest, Alex's father * Will Ropp as Elijah Acosta, a former delivery man who now works at a cannabis store * Michelle Twarowska as Olena Kuzma, a woman in an abusive relationship whom Alex helps as part of Victim Services * Josh Zuckerman as Paul, Alex's neighbor * Vanessa Martinez as Jeannette Ruiz, an attorney in the Crimes Against Women Bureau * Gary Perez as Rolando Cabral * Michael Cassidy as Clay Bishop, a

legal aid Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right ...

attorney who has a brief relationship with Alex *

Brynn Thayer Brynn Thayer is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for playing Jenny Wolek on the television soap opera ''One Life to Live'' from 1978 to 1986, which earned her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination. Career Thayer is well known for her w ...

as Ruth Gurian * Lena Georgas as Patricia Forrest, Alex's mother * Ivy George as young Alex *

Rondi Reed Rondi Anne Reed (born October 26, 1952) is an American actress of stage and screen. A longtime member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, she has appeared in more than 50 productions at that theater. Also active on Broadway, she won the 2 ...

as Judge Webb *

Jessika Van Jessika Van is an American actress. Van is most known for playing "Becca," the ringleader of the Asians or the Asian mafia in Season 2 and Season 3 of MTV's '' Awkward.'' She also played Kim, a Hong Kong Police Officer and sister of Detective Le ...

as Michelle

Episodes

Production

A television series reboot of the film was first announced in February 2021, when

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

had announced they would be producing television versions of their films, naming ''Fatal Attraction'', ''

Flashdance ''Flashdance'' is a 1983 American romantic drama dance film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Jennifer Beals as a passionate young dancer, Alex Owens, who aspires to become a professional ballerina, alongside Michael Nouri, who plays her ...

'', ''

The Italian Job ''The Italian Job'' is a 1969 British comedy Caper story, caper film written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley, directed by Peter Collinson (film director), Peter Collinson, and starring Michael Caine. The film's plot centres ...

'', '' Love Story'', and ''

The Parallax View ''The Parallax View'' is a 1974 American political thriller film starring Warren Beatty, Paula Prentiss, Hume Cronyn, William Daniels, Kenneth Mars, Walter McGinn, Kelly Thordsen and Jim Davis in support. Produced and directed by Alan ...

'' as in development for

. In November, the series was officially given a series order, and

was cast to star as Alex, portrayed by

Glenn Close Glenda Veronica Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. In a career spanning over five decades on Glenn Close on screen and stage, screen and stage, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Glenn Close, numerous ac ...

in the film. In January 2022,

was cast as Dan, portrayed by

Michael Douglas Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the ...

in the film. In May,

Silver Tree Silver Tree is a television and film writer, producer and director, from Petaluma, California.

joined as a director and executive producer, with

, Alyssa Jirrels,

, and Brian Goodman joining the cast in June. Wanda De Jesus would be added in a recurring role in July. Doreen Calderon,

, David Sullivan, and Isabella Briggs would join the following month. In October, Walter Perez, David Meunier and

were cast in recurring roles. Filming began in mid–2022. On October 26, 2023, Paramount+ cancelled the series after one season.

Release

''Fatal Attraction'' aired on

from April 30 to May 28, 2023. The series had its international premiere at the 2023 Canneseries on April 18.

Reception

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reported a 37% approval rating with an average rating of 5.1/10, based on 51 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "While ''Fatal Attraction'' avoids being a mere copy by transposing the lurid classic into a modern era of sexual politics, clumsy execution ultimately dulls this story's edge."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 47 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'''s Manuel Betancourt gave the series a C+ grade, writing, "Here's ''Fatal Attraction'' (1987) filtered through an at times painfully... self-reflective lens—as if the series were aware that its central setup (a murdered mistress) couldn't possibly be uncritically presented lest it be misread as the stuff of puerile thrillers." James Jackson of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' gave it 2/5 stars, saying it "finds new things to say about these damaged lives yet is so immersed in their problems it's more a case of Fatal Protraction." John Anderson of ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' called the series a "first-rate reimagining" an added that it was "far more complex, engrossing and adult than the 1987 original. And it shows that there was much more to be mined out of James Dearden's Oscar-nominated screenplay than Mr. Lyne probably ever imagined." ''

TheWrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news organization that covers the business of entertainment and media. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman in 2009 and is based in Los Angeles. The site features original reporting, analysis, and editor ...

s Gwen Ihnat said the series was "Captivating, binge-worthy viewing, despite the fact the pacing can get clunky, stretched across eight episodes that probably could have been six".

References

External links

* * {{Paramount+ Fatal Attraction 2020s American drama television series 2023 American television series debuts 2023 American television series endings Television shows about adultery American thriller television series American English-language television shows Erotic thrillers Live action television shows based on films Nonlinear narrative television series Paramount+ original programming Psychological thriller television series Television series about prosecutors Television series based on adaptations Television series by Amblin Entertainment Television series by Paramount Television Television series set in 2008 Television series set in the 2000s Television series set in 2023 Television shows set in Los Angeles Works about stalking