| Director | Jane Campion |
|---|---|
| Budget | $12 million |
| Box office | $23.7 million |
Frannie Avery, an introverted writer and English professor in New York City, meets her student Cornelius at a local pub to talk about coursework. He proposes a theory that John Wayne Gacy may not have been guilty of his crimes, later suggesting that 'desire' was responsible. On her way to the basement bathroom, Frannie witnesses a woman performing oral sex on a man. Although it is dark, she can see a 3 of spades tattoo on the man's wrist and the woman's blue fingernails.
Periodically, Frannie reads poems on subway posters that seem to have bearing on her own life.
Several days later, Detective Giovanni Malloy questions Frannie as he investigates the gruesome murder of a young woman whose severed limb was found in Frannie's garden. Frannie is alternately thrilled and frightened by the detective's sexual aggressiveness, even as she grows disillusioned with the sexist attitudes and crude behavior of other men. His partner Richard Rodriguez, an officer who can no longer carry a gun because he threatened to kill his wife, is one of them.
Frannie questions Malloy about his 3 of spades tattoo, which he says identifies him as a member of a secret club. While walking home from a bar, she is assaulted by a masked stranger. She phones Malloy, and they have passionate sex. Later, she realizes a charm is missing from her bracelet.
The next day, Frannie describes the sexual encounter to her free-spirited half-sister, Pauline, who lives above a strip club. After Malloy tells Frannie that she and the murder victim were in the same bar the night of the murder, she remembers the tattoo and begins to fear he may be the killer.
Another victim is found dismembered in a washing machine at a school laundry. Malloy takes Frannie away from the noisy police station and drives to a secluded spot along a river, where he teaches her to use a gun. Meanwhile, Cornelius has been taken in for police questioning on suspicion of the murders because his term paper on John Wayne Gacy is "written in blood".
Frannie is confronted by her former boyfriend John Graham, who has been stalking her. He tells her he has been having panic attacks and that he wishes to ask Pauline out on a date. She walks out on him. She goes to Pauline's apartment, where she has been staying, finding it unlocked and in disarray. In the bathroom, she finds Pauline's severed head in a plastic bag.
After being questioned by Malloy, Frannie gets drunk in her apartment. Cornelius arrives and attempts to rape her, but is interrupted by Detective Rodriguez. Later, Malloy reveals that the killer's 'signature' is leaving a ring on the finger of his victims, and also that he has a key to Pauline's apartment. Frannie is upset and asks if he is the killer. Malloy is angry and sends her home.
Later, Frannie lets Malloy into her apartment and they have sex with him handcuffed to a pipe. Looking for the key in his jacket, she discovers her missing charm and believes this is more evidence that he is the serial killer. She takes his jacket and gun, leaving him handcuffed, and is met by Rodriguez outside.
Rodriguez persuades Frannie to get into his unmarked car and drives her "to the lighthouse", which reminds her a book she teaches (To the Lighthouse). Their destination is the Little Red Lighthouse below the George Washington Bridge. Rodriguez becomes threatening and she realises he has the same tattoo as Malloy. Rodriguez presents a ring on the end of a knife and asks Frannie to marry him.
Realizing that Rodriguez is the killer, Frannie shoots him with Malloy's gun. He attempts to strangle her, but she fires the gun again, killing him. Bloodied, she walks back to her apartment and lies down with Malloy, who is still cuffed to the pipe where she left him.