To Die For is a black comedy that targets the soullessness of modern life. Nicole Kidman in the strongest and most compelling performance of her career plays Suzanne Stone, a heartless woman obsessed with becoming a major television star.

After landing a slot as a weather person at the local cable station in Little Hope, New Hampshire, she decides to make her mark by creating a video documentary about three high school kids. Suzanne seduces 16-year-old Jimmy (Joaquin Phoenix) and then convinces him to murder her working-class husband (Matt Dillon) whom she sees as an obstacle to her vaulted career plans.

Director Gus Van Sant makes the most of the jabs at the dominance of the media in Buck Henry's screenplay based on Joyce Maynard's 1992 novel. The film's most horrific dimension is its chilling portrait of Suzanne's domination and manipulation of Jimmy and his two friends who are all lost souls.