Fatale (2020) – Review

2026   •  Lionsgate

Rated:  R

Length:  1 hr  42min

Drama ~ Mystery ~ Psychological Thriller ~ Romance

Director:  Deon Taylor

Writer:  David Loughery

Actors:  Hilary Swank, Michael Ealy, Mike Colter, Damaris Lewis, Tyrin Turner and Danny Pino.

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One Mistake Can Change Your Life.

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Official Trailer

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Fatale (2020) – Review

Michael Ealy stars as Derrick Tyler, an ex-college basketball star who has co-founded a lucrative and very successful sports management agency with his best friend Rafe Grimes (Mike Colter). Derrick is married to Tracie (Damaris Lewis), a successful real estate agent. Their marriage is strained and Derrick suspects there may be someone else in Tracie’s life. Derrick and Rafe head to Las Vegas for a business trip, and Rafe tells Derrick he should relax and have some fun, “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”.

Rafe’s insistence wears on Derrick and he decides he might be right, slips off his wedding ring and heads for the bar. He meets a woman at the bar and she confesses that she comes to Vegas to let loose whenever she feels the need. What happens in Vegas…, they end up spending the night in her hotel room. The next morning Derrick tries to sneak out but can’t find his phone. The woman wakes and tells Derrick she locked it in the room safe fearing he might leave before she was done with him.

Derrick finally gets his phone back after satisfying the woman and he and Rafe fly back to Los Angeles. That night as Derrick and his wife Tracie are sleeping in their bedroom, Tracie hears someone downstairs and wakes Derrick. He goes downstairs to investigate and is attacked by a masked intruder with a gun. Derrick fights him and the man tries to shoot him and misses. Derrick savagely hits him in the head and the man runs out of the house as Tracie calls 911.

The Police come and start investigating the scene as a Police Detective arrives on the scene. To Derrick’s dismay it is Valerie Quinlan, the mysterious woman from Las Vegas he had a one night stand with. And now she is in his house standing before him and his wife, “I’m sorry, do I know you? I feel like we’ve met before..” Derrick is obviously very shaken by her appearance.

That is the beginning of a very dark and twisted psychological thriller where nothing is as it seems. Just when you think you know what is going on, the story flips upside down on you. Who broke into Derrick’s house? Is Tracie having an affair? If so, with whom? Will Detective Quinlan spill the beans on their one night stand in Vegas? It is a pressurized game of Cat and Mouse as the story unfolds.

Hilary Swank is absolutely wicked as Valerie Quinlan, a hardened female Police Detective with personal problems of her own. Michael Ealy plays the sports playboy extremely well while also being vulnerable as the guy who made a mistake by cheating on his wife. In the end, Fatale (2020) is a twisted Psychological Thriller that will leave you guessing on the edge of your seat, right up until the very end. Highly recommended!

Fatale (2020) – Review by Bobby @ Streaming Movie Night.

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Movie Stills

Fatale (2020) – Review © 2026 Streaming Movie Night