Mortal Thoughts is a 1991 American neo-noir psychological thriller film directed by Alan Rudolph and starring Demi Moore, Glenne Headly, Bruce Willis, John Pankow, and Harvey Keitel.

Told in narrative flashbacks set in a police interrogation, the film centers on a woman implicated in the violent murder of her friend's abusive, drug-addicted husband.

"[1] Demi Moore, who had recently gained widespread fame for her role in Ghost (1990), was drawn to the project as she felt playing a character with a New Jersey dialect was a challenge.

"[3] Bruce Willis, Moore's then-husband, was cast in the role of Jimmy, the abusive husband of Glenne Headly's character.

[3] Moore stated that both she and Willis had a mutual interest in the film as it partly dealt with substance abuse issues, which both had experienced in their own lives.

[4] Claude Kerven, who co-wrote the screenplay, was originally hired to direct the project, but was replaced by Alan Rudolph after completing only one week of shooting.

[1] At the time, the production company, Polar Entertainment, had filed a lawsuit against New Visions Pictures for a breach of contract regarding Kerven's replacement, though it is unknown if this was the cause of the release delay.

[6] Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader wrote that the film's plot "depends on various delayed revelations and surprises, the last of which, while it violates our faith in the narrative as a whole, doesn’t substantially alter our overall sense of the characters," adding that composer Mark Isham's score "makes the possibility of loving these characters or feeling morally committed to them not only impractical but unthinkable.

"[7] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film, writing: "Like many crimes, the ones in this movie seem simple at first and only grow complicated the more you look at them.

Nor is the screenplay simply ingenious; it is also very funny, in a mordant and blood-soaked way, as these two women scheme and figure and lie to the cops, to each other and to themselves.

"[8] Sherry Crawford of the Evansville Courier and Press noted Rudolph's "stylized" direction, and deemed the film "a sometimes shocking, sometimes frighteningly honest look at some of our innermost feelings.

"[9] Gary Thompson of the Philadelphia Daily News gave the film an unfavorable review, writing that nothing "is enough to make Mortal Thoughts something special.

"[10] Marc Horton of the Edmonton Journal gave the film a middling review but praised Moore and Headley's lead performances, writing that "it is the work of these two which gives the movie whatever punch it possesses, even though they have to overcome the director's penchant for pointless eccentricity.