YMMV / Sleeping with the Enemy

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Laura's idiotic move of throwing the ring down the toilet, allowing Martin to discover her deception. Perhaps a form of Stockholm Syndrome where on some level she wanted him to find out she was still alive?
• Critic-Proof: The film got negative critical reviews but grossed $175 million worldwide thanks to Julia Roberts just coming off her Star-Making Role in Pretty Woman.
• Diagnosed by the Audience: There's no denying that Martin, despite not being a complete monster, goes beyond the typical scope of an abuser, as he seems to show enough traits of four personality disorders that seem to exacerbate his existing controlling nature, those being Antisocial, Borderline, Narcissistic, and Obsessive-Compulsive. His BPD, followed by his OCPD, appear to be the ones that are most severe, but even then he's still a bit of a psycho and self-absorbed.
• Moral Event Horizon: Being a physically and emotionally abusive spouse is bad enough, but Martin goes from run of the mill wife beater to pure sociopath when he attempts to smother Laura's elderly and blind mother with a pillow (only having a nurse walk in as he's about to do so stops him).
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The film received criticism for setting up some good statements about domestic violence but abandoning them in favor of a Slasher Movie esque plot (a similar criticism would be hurled at the movie Enough a few years later).
• Took the Bad Film Seriously: Patrick Bergin received praise for attempting to make his caricature of a villain somewhat believable and layered.
• Values Dissonance:
  • Martin having OCD as a negative character trait comes across as very insulting towards people with mental illness these days. Of course, it's not so much his OCD as the fact he insists on imposing it on Laura that's the truly negative trait.
  • As the film and book were made before domestic abuse was really taken seriously, it can seem surprising that Laura engineers her escape entirely on her own rather than seeking help from charities or organisations that are literally dedicated to helping abuse victims escape their tormentors. They have been in operation since the 1800s, but for the time, Laura probably wouldn't even be aware of such things at the time the book and movie take place.