I've had this film on my to-watch list since the day it was aired but I kept ignoring it whenever I sought for something to feed my eyes, not until last night while doom scrolling on TikTok, a particular clip of the film came up; it was so intense and detailed so, I had to go see the full thing for myself.
This movie made waves because obviously it's a ‘Tyler Perry's’ direction and backed by almighty Netflix. It's been hyped and I think yeah, in my own opinion, it kind of deserves it because of how visually pleasing it is and also because of how well the characters interpreted their roles.
Synopsis(no spoilers)
The story follows defense attorney Mea Harper (played by Kelly Rowland), whose personal and professional lives collide when she defends Zyair Malloy (Trevante Rhodes), a controversial artist accused of murdering his girlfriend. Complicating matters, the prosecutor on the case is Mea’s brother-in-law, Ray, who has political aspirations.
My Review and Rating
I was particularly drawn to this film due to its tense storytelling and complex themes of loyalty, justice, family and betrayal.
The score and cinematography does manage to create suspense and in my opinion is in sync with the tone, making the film more thrilling.
Kelly Rowland’s performance as Mea is earnest. Mea is a strong female lead character but sometimes she comes up with inconsistencies that pisses me off especially when it comes to dealing with her very annoying mother in law. Anyway I liked that I was able to empathize with her struggles as she portrayed that aspect really well. Dealing with a man who'd rather spend time with his mom than with his wife can be very frustrating. One that's got no paying job but is too scared to tell his mom about it yet he gets her expensive stuff by selling things that belong to his wife without her permission. I understood Mea was fed up with her husband's behavior but not keeping things professional with Zyair was the height of it.
On the other hand, Trevante Rhodes as Zyair Malloy delivers a chill but outstanding performance that further added tension to the film. His smirk, manner of speech, choice of words, the way he handled the paint brushes all made me want to see more of him. I tried figuring him out from the beginning, trying to guess my way through to know if he really killed his girlfriend but I couldn't find anything on him and I felt like a useless detective.
This film touches on intriguing themes and manages to keep you engaged from beginning to end.
The only flaw I found was: from a technical perspective, the film’s direction emphasizes glossy visuals but neglects emotional depth or narrative cohesion.
I'd rate it a ⅘. Btw, I think this one should be rated 18. That's if the age range for these kinds of films haven't changed as we're now in a woke generation.