

The chilling true story of a newly married FBI poster boy assigned to an Appalachian mountain town in Kentucky. There he is drawn into an illicit affair with an impoverished local woman who becomes his star informant. She sees in him her means of escape; instead, it's a ticket to disaster for both of them.
Acting
Clarke's feral, desperate energy—she's never been this unhinged.
Direction
Noyce makes poverty viscerally beautiful, then punishes you for noticing.
Production
Perfectly grimy 1980s Kentucky—every trailer feels authentically lived-in.

Director
Phillip Noyce
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was the first murder conviction of an FBI agent in the bureau's history. Mark Putnam served barely ten years.
The real Susan Smith's family despised this film; they said it glamorized her exploitation. Clarke reportedly spent weeks in Kentucky researching poverty—then got blasted for her 'meth chic' makeup.
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