Red Shoe Diaries 1992

Jake Winters, David Duchovny, a successful architect, attends the funeral of his fiancée Alex. Alex’s death is ruled a suicide, and a heartbroken Jake returns to the upscale loft they shared, where he discovers a diary she kept in the days before her last moments. The diary reveals that Alex carried on an affair, a truth that unsettles him and casts a shadow over their supposed future together.

Flashbacks unfold the affair’s fragile beginnings. One day, a chance encounter with a handsome construction worker leads to a life-altering infatuation. Alex is pulled into a new interest after he saves her from a car by pulling her into his arms, and she learns the man also works as a shoe salesman. She buys a pair of red high heels from him, and he invites her to meet him at his place the following night. The diary shows how this connection destabilizes the strong bond she had with Jake, pulling her toward passion that feels urgent and dangerous.

The other man is named Tom, and though Alex loves Jake, she slips deeper into the affair. Guilt weighs on her, and she attempts to slow things down, but Tom pushes back, threatening to expose their relationship. In moments of doubt, Alex even contemplates seeking guidance from other women by placing a personal ad, hoping to find solidarity and clues from others who have faced similar involvements. She writes, in part: > “Woman out of control seeks clues to own dark pain and passion from other women’s experiences. Willing to pay top dollar. Send diaries to Red Shoes, P.O. Box…”

On Alex’s 26th birthday, Jake proposes, and she is overwhelmed with joy but wary of her history of self-destructive behavior. Jake reassures her of his love, yet the unease remains. They visit her mother, who is cold and judgmental, a contrast that unsettles Jake but does little to dampen his commitment to Alex. Despite the shared happiness, the past lingers and the fear of losing control shadows their engagement.

The moment of choice arrives when Alex plans to end the affair with Tom, meeting him at a hotel to convey she is marrying Jake and will not continue their secret. Tom becomes furious, insisting the affair isn’t over, and a volatile encounter follows, including a heated confrontation and a physical fight. Alex returns home drunk, torn between the man she loves and the man she cannot resist. In the days that follow, her mental state deteriorates, and she ultimately dies in the bathtub, slitting her wrists in a moment of overwhelmed emotion.

As Jake processes the diary, he seeks out Tom in a tense confrontation that blends menace and heartbreak. He visits the shoe store where Tom works, asking vaguely about red heels to test the waters. The two collide later at a bar, and what begins as taunting escalates into a brutal fight. Jake finally reveals to Tom that he was engaged to Alex and had learned of her death—an admission that leaves both men raw. Tom confesses his own love for Alex, and Jake’s revelation compounds the pain still pulsing in both of them.

Time moves on, and Jake makes a desperate move to reach out to others who might share similar experiences. He places an anonymous advertisement in the newspaper, inviting women who have faced betrayal (or who have damaged someone else in the process) to send in their personal stories. The ad marks a turning point as Jake channels his grief into a broader search for meaning and connection, a way to process the emptiness left by Alex’s death and the fragile web of desire that surrounded her.

The story unfolds with a restrained, observant tone that leans into the emotional ripple effects of love, guilt, and the tenuous line between devotion and destructive longing. It presents a portrait of a relationship tested by temptation, a tragedy rooted in miscommunication and secrecy, and a man who seeks some sense of closure by opening a window into other women’s experiences—an attempt to understand pain, passion, and the fragile boundaries that hold a life together.