The power duo of provocateur director Paul Verhoeven (ROBOCOP) and sleaze-loving writer Joe Eszterhas (FLASHDANCE) made two of the most controversial, infamous movies of the '90s with BASIC INSTINCT and SHOWGIRLS. More than just the nudity and violence it’s remembered for, BASIC INSTINCT finds Verhoeven at his peak power, crafting one of the best erotic thrillers of all time. Eszterhas’ script about a bisexual femme fatale murder suspect is turned by Verhoeven into a complex examination of sex, power, and misogyny as he smuggles his ideas underneath a veneer of sleaze so thick the studio demanded cuts to the over-the-top sex and violence, and LGBTQ groups who viewed the film as promoting negative stereotypes protested its very release. This movie is a Rorschach blot, and every audience will read something different in it, but one thing we all can agree on is the power of Sharon Stone’s…
