To Die For (1995) | Full Movie | Movies Anywhere

first and foremost an exercise in bold style, with Van Sant throwing out the traditional playbook and thereby turning what might have otherwise been a Lifetime-esque potboiler into a thrilling, darkly humorous cinematic experiment

Boasts an impressive cast that includes three future Oscar winners and a tale of unbridled ambition that could've made for a riveting experience, but sadly it's all undone by a rather inexplicable, puzzling structure that reveals far too much too early.

In the way it cavorts with teen melodrama, black comedy, and docu-realism to reflect Suzanne’s contradictory masks, To Die For is a comic precursor to Gus Van Sant’s Elephant.

The more I revisit the film, though, it’s Joaquin Phoenix and Alison Folland as James and Lydia, the teens most closely involved with Suzanne, who really give it its exceptional shape.