Single White Female Movie Review

Single White Female (1992)

Rent Single White Female on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the book (paid link)
Written by: John Lutz (novel "SWF Seeks Same"), Don Roos (screenplay)
Directed by: Barbet Schroeder
Starring: Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Steven Weber, Stephen Tobolowsky
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
A woman advertising for a new roommate finds that something very strange is going on with the tenant who decides to move in.

Verdict
It's a great concept with an idea that instantly terrifies. Unfortunately the movie doesn't do the idea justice. The story is shallow and this movie just doesn't stop, becoming repetitious. Long after the big reveal it's still providing more of the same. The longer this continued the less I liked it. It's not much more than a b-movie.
Skip it.

Review
This movie was a bit before my time, but I remember it quickly becoming a part of pop culture. I heard the title long before I knew what it meant. This strikes a nerve from when posting a classified ad for a roommate was typical. This movie imagines the average roommate might just be a killer. It's a scary though, and of course it affected people.

Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bridget Fonda play Hedy and Allie

Allie (Bridget Fonda) breaks up with her boyfriend and submits an ad for a roommate. She and Hedy (Jennifer Jason Leigh) quickly hit it off. When Allie makes up with her boyfriend, that's when we start to wonder about Hedy. She becomes obsessive. This slowly builds, but there is no way you don't know what will happen. It's just a question of how we get there and how far this will go in the process.

 Hedy claims she's looking out for Allie, but that increasingly becomes difficult to believe. This idea and concept carries much farther than the movie itself. The thought strikes deep, but the movie just sensationalizes this idea that your roommate could kill you. The movie doesn't have enough content to carry it, and the development of the characters is nothing more than shallow. This movie just doesn't end. Long after the twist is revealed it's still doing more of the same. This movie long overstays it's welcome and it's not much more than a slasher with a neat concept.