Directed by Gus Van Sant, the film follows Suzanne Stone, an aspiring broadcast star whose ambition is so blinding, so glittering, that nothing—not her husband, not morality, not reality itself—can stand in her way.

Kidman delivers one of the defining performances of her career, playing Suzanne with a terrifyingly cheerful precision that turns media obsession into something viciously funny and disturbingly prescient. It’s also a perfect showcase for Van Sant’s astonishingly wide-ranging style: after the dreamy lyricism of My Own Private Idaho and before the formal experiments of Gerry and Elephant, he shifts into bright, biting satire with total confidence, weaving together mockumentary interviews, tabloid sensationalism, and deceptively sunny suburbia.

Both a critique of American media culture and an intoxicating character study, To Die For remains a darkly glittering gem—funny, nasty, stylish, and still way too true.