'Fatal Attraction' Still Terrifies Movie Fans - But the 1987 Thriller Almost Had a Very Different Ending
The psychological thriller Fatal Attraction has terrified moviegoers for years, even causing the phrase "bunny boiler" to make it into the popular lexicon. However, over the years, the 1987 movie has also caused a great deal of controversy over its narratives and, especially, its depiction of Glenn Close's character as a murderous career woman turned stalker.
However, Fatal Attraction almost had a very different ending. If you haven't seen the movie, this article will contain spoilers for the actual ending.
The movie was well-received in 1987. Starring Close and Michael Douglas, it received six Academy Awards nominations. Douglas starred as a marriage man, Dan Gallagher, who embarks on a short-term affair; the rejection causes Close's character, Alex Forrest, to mentally unravel until she ends up boiling the family rabbit on their kitchen stove. Douglas's wife, Beth, played by Anne Archer, fatally shoots Close's character in self-defense. According to Screen Rant, Close delivered one of her best performances ever in the role.
The movie has been held up as a warning about the perils of infidelity. But, over the years, it has also received criticism for depicting a career woman as a murderous mental case while letting the man off the hook. Either way, the ending almost didn't happen.
What Was the Alternate Ending for 'Fatal Attraction'?
In the original script, Close's character was supposed to take her own life while staging it as a murder and framing Douglas to take the fall. The scene was a play on an opera. However, test audiences didn't like that version.
According to Screen Rant, in the alternate ending, "Alex ensured that Dan's fingerprints were on the knife that she used, which allowed the police to charge him for the crime. After Dan was arrested, Beth listened to a tape where Alex talked about her scheme, which meant that Dan wouldn't end up in prison after all."
The director, Adrian Lyne, has defended the ending that was chosen instead over the years. "The other ending felt flat - it's as simple as that," Lyne told Yahoo Entertainment. "[Producers] Stanley Jaffe, Sherry Lansing and I watched a preview, and we felt that, dramatically, it didn't work that well. In the end, I think the ending we eventually shot is better than the original."
He told the publication that Close resisted shooting the new ending at first. "I remember talking to Glenn about the end, because she was very upset," he told the publication. "We were all reluctant initially because there was something nice about the idea of the ending reflecting the opera."
What talked her into it? "Somebody said that the only innocent party in the movie is Beth, so it had a certain logic that [Alex's death] would come from her," he explained.
You can watch the original ending on a Blu-ray edition, Yahoo Entertainment reported.
Critics Condemn 'Fatal Attraction' as a Backlash Against Feminism
To this day, the movie remains controversial because of its centering of the career woman as the antagonist. Susan Faludi wrote about this critique in a book called Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, and you can find the same interpretations online today.
"It is a suspenseful, well-paced and entertaining erotic thriller, and Close's performance is captivating," wrote Dazed Digital.
"As a story about the nightmarish spectre of the single career woman, it is also of the most misogynistic films ever made – the vanguard of a wider cultural backlash against feminism which took hold in the late 1980s." There was a television version on Paramount that adds additional depth.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 26, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published June 26, 2026 at 1:03 AM.