
Van Der Beek Goes Dark: A Fresh Look at The Rules of Attraction
Rolling Stone revisits The Rules of Attraction (2002), praising James Van Der Beek’s Sean Bateman as a nihilistic antihero while noting the film’s tepid reception and mis-marketing; a rewatch reveals gratuitous scenes of sexual assault and death by suicide, plus racial stereotypes, but Van Der Beek’s performance remains a standout and the film endures as a cult entry in Bret Easton Ellis’s universe.

