Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
A young woman fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her nightmarish marriage, but discovers it is impossible to elude her controlling husband.
Sleeping with the Enemy is a competent domestic-thriller with a solidly constructed premise — the fake-death escape from an abusive marriage generates genuine tension in its first act. However, the plot becomes increasingly formulaic once Laura settles in Iowa, following a predictable arc toward confrontation. Julia Roberts delivers a serviceable but surface-level performance, and Patrick Bergin's villain is more cartoonish than chilling. The cinematography is functional studio work with some atmospheric Cape Cod imagery but nothing distinctive. The film treads well-worn thriller territory without reinventing it, and the climax resolves with a straightforward shootout that feels like a genre checkbox rather than a satisfying dramatic conclusion.