Defining Favourites: To Die For (1995)

Gus Van Sant's deconstruction of the image of celebrity is every bit as funny as it is terrifying.

image from Columbia Pictures

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• Directed by Gus Van Sant

• Screenplay by Buck Henry, from the novel by Joyce Maynard

• Produced by Laura Ziskin

• Starring Nicole Kidman, Joaquin Phoenix, Illeana Douglas, Allison Folland, Casey Affleck, Kurtwood Smith, Dan Hedaya, Matt Dillon

• Running Time: 106 minutes

• Premiere Date: May 20, 1995

(shoutout to

Ottavia Paluch

for proofreading every bit of this)

Our obsession with pop culture in some form is growing even more prevalent right now, in an age where people are obsessed with achieving the perfect “look” to become an influencer on Instagram or TikTok, slowly dominating everyone’s life. Thinking about Gus Van Sant’s To Die For in this context unveils a more sinister side to everything.

On Netflix, popular documentaries about true crime have taken the world by storm, whether they be in the form of the miniseries Conversations with a Killer, Tiger King, or Making a Murderer or films like Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. It might as well be worth bringing those up, especially because of the way that people continue feeding into the way that popular media reignites interest in crime, inviting the viewers to come along and play the investigative role. Knowing how documentaries of the sort are structured is crucial towards how To Die For unravels itself, because it’s played in a manner that parodies true crime documentaries.