Cinema Atlas
Discover Ask the Atlas World Map Directors My List Sign in
THEME EXPLORATION

desire and manipulation

12 films · 3 directors
FILMS THAT EXPLORE THIS
A Woman Is a Woman
A Woman Is a Woman
1961 · Jean-Luc Godard
Summer Storm
Summer Storm
1944 · Douglas Sirk
Audition
Audition
2000 · Takashi Miike
Gone Girl
Gone Girl
2014 · David Fincher
Partner
Partner
1968 · Bernardo Bertolucci
I Want You
I Want You
1998 · Michael Winterbottom
Saltburn
Saltburn
2023 · Emerald Fennell
Basic Instinct 2
Basic Instinct 2
2006 · Michael Caton-Jones
Come Play With Me
Come Play With Me
1968 · Salvatore Samperi
Hedda
Hedda
2025 · Nia DaCosta
Little Tony
Little Tony
1998 · Alex van Warmerdam
One Night at McCool's
One Night at McCool's
2001 · Harald Zwart
DIRECTORS WHO EXPLORE THIS
David Fincher → USA

His films like Gone Girl and The Social Network dissect how characters weaponize desire and information to manipulate those around them.

Pedro Almodóvar → Spain

He explores desire as a destabilizing force that drives characters to manipulate relationships and identities in films like Live Flesh and Bad Education.

Brian De Palma → USA

His psychological thrillers obsessively examine voyeurism, seduction, and manipulation as interconnected tools of control and obsession.

Cinema Atlas
About Privacy Terms
© Cinema Atlas 2026 · An independent world-cinema guide
Discover Search Ask the Atlas My List Sign in