To properly set up a twist, you give clues and foreshadow in the first act of a story so it makes sense, Deadly Illusions chose to set up for a good twist but opted out of that at the very last second for an option not truly on the table.
This past Thursday Netflix released a few feature, ‘Deadly Illusions’, written and directed by Anna Elizabeth James, starring a well-decorated cast including Kristin Davis, Greer Grammer, and Dermot Mulroney. It is an erotic thriller which uses an unreliable narrator to keep the viewer questioning if they can or can’t believe what’s on screen.
Kristin Davis plays Mary Morrison, a retired novelist and stay at home mom who lives a posh, picture-perfect life. After receiving a sumptuous job offer to write one more book following money mishandling by her husband, she decides that she needs extra help to care for her kids and home. She decides to hire a nanny through a childcare company.
There is an instant connection with a young girl, Grace, who has a very natural affinity with the kids. The relationship between the mom and young nanny is from the start flirty and erotic and inappropriate. It is symbiotic with both parties encouraging the behavior as Mary begins having vivid fantasies about her nanny which is connected to her writing. Mary has difficulty placing time and her mind travels to dark places when writing. The lines of Mary’s imagination and reality blur immensely.
The first two acts of this film explores the concepts of infidelity and fantasy for things you cannot have. This carefully balances a line of wondering who is instigating the situation. This plays into the trope of a nanny causing an affair but focuses more on feminine sexuality than the typical male perspective. They do show the duality of it with the husband but the power dynamic gives an edge to the female nonetheless. I truly think this plays out well with the passion and desire of a new flame however, this was all taken away when the third act rerouted to rid itself of erotic and switched for horror and bloodlust. Without spoiling the ending, it completely flipped the script and redacted all that to justify the ending.
The set design is beautiful. The backdrop of a wealthy home and luxury is opposite to the darkness and lust within itself. The deliberate decision highlights how out of place everything feels. It looked like the family had a perfect life but that still was not good enough and they sought out more. I really enjoyed the cinematography. The camerawork in itself created suspense and highlighted the youth of the nanny and intimacy in the relationships between characters. The shot choices added suspense in reveals and relations in unison with the characters. The editing choices at times were brilliantly and truly represented Mary’s split in reality. It showed her lapse in her own judgement which really sold the audience to not believe everything exactly as it's shown. In doing this, they became very on-the-nose and some choices, which seemed to have been made to avoid audience confusion, were so over the top they were nearly comical. For example, in a massive reveal during the most gory scene they incorporate an insane voice filter that catches you so off guard it's nearly funny.
I believe that this film is a fun watch for those who like suspense or for those who enjoy a bit of naughtiness. The actors performances as well as the filming techniques made it appealing visually. The biggest downfall of this film was that I think it tried to be too many things at once. It spent a lot of time with a passionate slow burn affair which rapidly escalated to murderous hijinks. The foreshadowing led up for a twist and I was a bit disappointed they didn't follow through. Instead, they toss one or two hints in and so they are most justified for everything else afterwards.
To me, it fell flat as it occurred very quickly and left little to no time to digest the information and it resolved itself as rapidly as it occurred.
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