An NYU professor (Meg Ryan) living in Manhattan is questioned by a police detective (Mark Ruffalo) after the severed head of a murder victim is found in her garden. The two begin a steamy affair, but their relationship changes when she begins to suspect that the detective is actually responsible for the murder. Also with Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Nick Damici. Directed by Jane Campion. [1:58]

SEX/NUDITY 9 - A man touches a woman's clothed breasts, she takes off her dress, we see her bare breasts, he takes off her panties, we see her bare buttocks, she lies on her stomach, he caresses her breasts and performs oral sex on her (we see his head between her legs and she moans). A woman handcuffs a man to a pipe, lifts her skirt, climbs on his lap and thrusts rhythmically (they both moan). A man climbs on top of a woman in bed and thrusts rhythmically. A woman performs oral sex on a man (we see her head bobbing back and forth at his hipline) and another woman watches. A man tells a woman over the phone to touch herself between the legs. A woman masturbates: we see her hips moving rhythmically and she moans loudly. Women in thong underwear dance on a stage, around a pole and on men's laps as men watch and give them money (we see a few similar scenes). A man and woman lie fully nude in a bed while talking (we see his private parts and her breasts and buttocks). A woman lies in a bathtub (we see her bare shoulders and breasts) and a man washes her feet. A man and a woman kiss, he begins to take off her top (we see part of her bra), then she says no (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A man and a woman kiss. A man talks about his first sexual experience and describes (in detail) his technique for performing oral sex. Two men make sexually explicit and crude remarks to a woman. A man makes a sexually explicit remark to a woman, and a man asks a woman on the street if she will have sex with him. A man kisses a woman's hand. A man makes sexual advances toward another man. A man and a woman dance. Two women kiss, hold hands and hug (they are sisters). A man talks about having slept with a woman twice, a woman says that a man appears to want to have sex with another woman, a woman says that another woman wants to have oral sex with a man, and a woman talks about having slept with a man. A woman climbs into a man's arms (he's lying on the floor) and they hold each other. A woman wears a sheer bra that reveals her nipples and panties. We see a painting of a nude woman (bare breasts and crotch). A man is bare-chested. A woman sleeps in panties (we see her bare back). We see a woman standing on a porch wearing a slip. Women wear low-cut dresses that reveal cleavage in several scenes. A woman lives above an exotic dance club and it is not clear whether she also works there.

VIOLENCE/GORE 7 - We see a blood drenched Laundromat, with body parts pulled out of a washer and examined by police. A woman is attacked by a man who jumps her from behind as she walks down a street: the woman flails, screams and runs into the street where she is hit by a car and lands on the ground. A woman finds a clump of hair and bloody scalp on a bed, and walks toward a bathroom where she finds a woman's severed head in a plastic bag (we hear that the victim was stragled and her throat was cut). A woman dreams about a man ice-skating over a woman's legs and cutting them off (we see blood spray), he then skates toward her neck. We see a severed hand in a plastic bag. We see a photo of a woman's severed head (her skin is tinged blue). A man holds a knife toward a woman, she shoots him in the leg (we see blood on his leg), they fall to the ground and we see the man lying dead on top of the woman with a patch of blood on his shirt where she apparently shot him again. A woman sprayed and splattered with blood walks along a road. A man has a bruised and swollen cheek and eye. We hear about a murder and that a woman's throat was slit and she was disarticulated. We hear about a murder and that a woman's severed head was found in a garden. A man shoves a woman on a bed, climbs on top of her and yells at her when she pushes him away, after kissing him. A woman hits a man on the head, back and shoulders. A man yells at a woman and frightens her. A man talks about a cat eating a dead person's body part at the scene of the crime. A man talks about serial killer John Wayne Gacy and the murders that he committed. A dog licks his feces and a man picks up the pile with a plastic glove. A man teaches a woman how to shoot a gun.

LANGUAGE 10 - 55 F-words, 14 sexual terms, 9 scatological terms, 15 anatomical terms, 3 mild obscenities, 2 derogatory terms for homosexuals, 2 religious profanities, 3 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - People smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol in several scenes.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Murder, irony, stream of consciousness, words, safe sex, grief.

MESSAGE - Things are not always what they seem.