Wild Things (1998) on Netflix
Sam Lombardo, a high school guidance counselor in Blue Bay, Florida, is accused of rape by student Kelly Van Ryan and then by Suzie Toller. Detective Ray Duquette investigates.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.6/10142,143 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes64%
Trailer
Plot summary
Sam Lombardo works as a guidance counselor at a high school in Blue Bay, an upscale Miami suburb where he draws attention from female students and from some of the older women in town. After he speaks at an assembly about sex crimes, Kelly Van Ryan, a wealthy cheerleader, says he raped her. Suzie Toller, an outcast juvenile delinquent from a poor Everglades family, makes the same claim. Kelly's mother, Sandra Van Ryan, a real estate heiress, campaigns relentlessly to bring him down. Sam is put on administrative leave, is turned away from local spots, is forced off the road, and is attacked by Sandra's pool boy, Frankie Condo; he is also jailed. He turns to attorney Kenneth Bowden for his defense. Detective Ray Duquette and his partner, Gloria Perez, work the case.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Wild Things (1998)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- McNaughton said production had to be halted and the police called when a real dead body floated into view. In April 2025 Kevin Bacon told an interviewer that a dead body was found in a swamp during filming of one of the night scenes.
- The original screenplay had Sergeant Duquette and Sam Lombardo kiss in a shower near the end of the film. Kevin Bacon said the scene was changed because the financiers "didn't like the idea of men making out"; in 2023 the director said one of the actors had objected just before the cameras rolled.
- Robert Downey Jr. was the first choice for Sam Lombardo, the role that ultimately went to Matt Dillon. Although he was in recovery, his highly publicized drug problems made him too great an insurance risk, and producer Rodney Liber said there were just too many lawyers, insurance people and bond-company people involved.
- Richards' lawyer negotiated a detailed contract setting out how much nudity would be filmed, including the option of a body double. Richards turned the double down and filmed the scene herself after drinking a pitcher of margaritas with Neve Campbell.
SPOILER
Director John McNaughton called Wild Things his "most political film" in 2018, explaining that the poor character from the trailer park ends up alone and victorious on a ninety-foot sailboat while nearly everyone else is dead, which he framed as a comment on 1990s wealth concentration.- Kevin Bacon had a no nudity clause in his contract but let McNaughton use whichever shot he thought looked best, and a moment of frontal nudity stayed in the film. He was surprised by how many questions he got about it at the American press showing, while the European press never asked.
