an occasionally surrealistic thriller that will push most people button . and the 4th man be sure to offend anyone with a taste for the politically correct . the story protagonist be a bisexual alcoholic catholic writer and gerard ( krabbe ) and with a seriously twisted sense of imagination . verhoeven offer upgerard have an example of everything wrong with the modern man . he shiftless and delusional and unable to control his urge and afraid to commit tomeaningful relationship and and utterly apathetic about life in general . a the character himself state at one point and he be a professional liar and unable to recall the truth . the movie open with gerard dreaming of spider consume christ and and then wake to begin the long march to his own destruction . he chase offone man ( a boyfriend presumably ) and then chase another at a train station . later and at a lecture and he meet a woman who seem to want to help him and orperhaps she have more nefarious plan . she quickly capture gerard in her web and entice him with sex and money and have plenty of both . she also gotsecrets and like three dead husband . be she lonely and and genuinely look for someone to nurture or be she a deadly black widow and lure gerard to hisdeath . will garard be the 4th man she kill . the woman be christine ( soutendijk ) and and verhoeven do his best to keep you guess what she up to . this be an interesting movie and with a lot of sex and intrigue . it similar to verhoeven < em > basic instinct < or em > and but have a lot more depth and and be certainly more shocking . there a lot of very strong gay content and which may make some viewer squirm . highly recommend for fan of intelligentpsychological thriller and or anyone look for something entirely new .