In the Cut

Englisch-Professorin Frannie Avery (Meg Ryan) wird Augenzeugin eines Geschlechtsaktes zwischen einer jungen Frau und einem mysteriösen Herren mit auffälliger Handgelenktätowierung. Kurz darauf klopft der auffällig am Handgelenk tätowierte Mordfahnder Malloy (Mark Ruffalo) an ihre Tür und bittet sie um Mithilfe in einem Mordfall betreffend die junge Frau, die Frannie eben noch beobachtet hat. Trotz ihrer Verwirrung und allerhand weiterer privater Konfliktstoffe lässt sich Frannie auf eine verhängnisvolle Affäre mit dem Ordnungshüter ein. Jane Campion ("Das Piano") gibt Hollywoods ausgewiesener Sauberfrau Meg Ryan ("Schlaflos in Seattle") in diesem obsessionsgetränkten Erotikthriller in bester Hitchcock-Tradition Gelegenheit zum verruchten Imagewechsel.

Frannie Avery is a New York City inner city high school English teacher, whose passion is collecting words and phrases that interest her, either because of their meaning and/or just because of the way they sound. The way that she and her paternal half sister Pauline Avery, her closest confidante, deal with men and sex has largely been affected by their father, who is working on marrying wife number five. Frannie thinks about sex more than she has it. Her lack of a sex life is further exacerbated by being the object of obsession of James Graham, a man with who she had a few casual dates and two sexual encounters, which has made her even more cautious. This complete experience is why she has a somewhat inappropriate, albeit non-sexual relationship with Cornelius Webb, one of her students. She eventually embarks on a sexual relationship with NYPD Homicide Detective Giovanni Malloy, who, along with his partner Detective Ritchie Rodriguez, are investigating the murder of a young woman, ...