Wild Things is a 1998 American neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by John McNaughton and starring Matt Dillon, Kevin Bacon, Neve Campbell, Denise Richards, Theresa Russell, Robert Wagner, and Bill Murray.

It follows a high school guidance counselor in South Florida who is accused of rape by two female students and a series of subsequent revelations after a police officer begins investigating the alleged crimes.

[4] In the upscale Miami suburb of Blue Bay, wealthy student Kelly Van Ryan accuses her high school guidance counselor, Sam Lombardo, of raping her.

At trial, Suzie succumbs to pressure during cross-examination and admits that she and Kelly concocted the false allegations to get revenge on Sam: Suzie for his failure to bail her out of jail on a minor drug charge and Kelly for his affair with her mother, real estate heiress Sandra Van Ryan.

Meanwhile, Ray goes to the Van Ryans' guest house to confront the scared and upset Kelly, but they end up shooting each other.

Although Sam is displeased that Ray killed Kelly instead of simply framing her for Suzie's murder, he agrees that they now have fewer loose ends to deal with.

During her staged murder on the beach, Suzie pulled out her own teeth with pliers to make her death appear legitimate.

Finally, with Kelly, Ray, and Sam all dead, Suzie is met by Kenneth, who gives her a briefcase full of cash that he describes as "just walking around money" and a check for millions of dollars.

Literary scholar John Thorburn notes that Wild Things is loosely based on several figures in Greek tragedies, namely Medea, whom he describes the character of Suzie as a "modern-day version of.

[8] John McNaughton, who had garnered acclaim for the horror film Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986), became involved with the project as he was seeking to make a more mainstream feature.

[9] McNaughton commented that Peters's original draft "is brilliant on plot and we didn't change any of it, but I felt Kem Nunn was stronger on texture and character and place.

[10] The original screenplay featured a gay scene between Sergeant Duquette and Sam Lombardo near the end of the film, in which the men kiss in the shower, revealing that—similarly to Suzie and Kelly—the two had a homosexual relationship that allowed Lombardo to prey on Duquette in order to manipulate him and ultimately con him out of the money.

[13] Richards' lawyer negotiated a detailed contract about how much nudity would be filmed, including the option to use a body double.

The site's consensus states: "Wild Things is a delightfully salacious, flesh-exposed romp that also requires a high degree of love for trash cinema.

[28] Janet Maslin of The New York Times praised Campbell and Richard's performances, and also McNaughton's direction for adding "a decadent gloss to this far-fetched, quintuple-crossing tale", although she criticized the plot as being "loony".

[29] In The Washington Post, Desson Howe described the film as "clearly a crock", and although it "may not have a single redeeming feature, but it doesn't have a dull moment, either.

[31] The Orlando Sentinel said that the film, overall, missed the mark, but that Murray in his small role manages to steal the show.

[32] Variety praised the casting of Dillon, Bacon, Campbell, Richards, Russell, Murray and Snodgress: "[Y]ou have an ensemble that appears to be enjoying the challenge of offbeat roles and unusual material.

The magazine also praised the film as "original" with a "glossy, unreal quality that nicely dovetails with the pulse of the drama".

George S. Clinton was nominated for Best Music at 25th Saturn Awards, but lost to John Carpenter for Vampires, another film from Columbia Pictures.

[34] At the 1998 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, Bill Murray won the Best Supporting Actor for Rushmore and Wild Things.

[35] The film won a Blockbuster Entertainment Awards for Daphne Rubin-Vega in the category "Favorite Supporting Actress - Suspense".

[38] In a retrospective on the film celebrating its twentieth anniversary, Entertainment Weekly writer Chris Nashawaty noted that Wild Things marked a peak in lurid sex-themed thriller films in the late-1990s, summarizing: "As a rule, movies like Wild Things fight an uphill battle with critics who would want to seem above titillation.

"[8] McNaughton commented in 2018 that he considered Wild Things his "most political film" due to its focus on social class, concluding: "Who wins?

[40][41] In 2006, the producers tried to develop a spiritual successor and John McNaughton was in talks to again direct a script by Stephen Peters titled "Backstabbers".