‘Fatal Affair’ is a Boring Affair
As noted in the headline, I didn’t like this movie. Not to say it’s the worst thing ever, but it’s just…meh. Nothing much to it. Very generic. No surprises. At the very least, the cast is diverse so I’ll give it that.
Fatal Affair is about Ellie (Nia Long), a lawyer who attempts to fix her relationship with her husband, Marcus (Stephen Bishop) after she nearly hooks up with her old friend, David (Omar Epps). David turns out to be a little obsessed with Ellie, and will do whatever it takes to win her.
This is yet another thriller from Netflix, but it didn’t thrill me. Again, it’s pretty predictable. You can easily pinpoint what’s going to happen and it’s just cliche after cliche. My least favorite one is when characters don’t know how to communicate with each other. It will solve a lot of problems if you talk.
The actors did fine with what they got. Long plays a lawyer with lots of flaws, and Epps is convincing as a creepy stalker — you definitely don’t want to mess with him. Not only does he stalk Long’s character, he also takes pictures of her, breaks into her house, and blackmails her with a video.
He’s also a ninja, apparently, since he can pop out of nowhere without anyone hearing him.
Another issue I have with the movie is that we’re not given enough information about certain characters. We learn that Ellie and Marcus had relationship problems before the movie started, but we don’t know exactly why. They’ve been together for 20 years, but one day Ellie felt like she was sleeping with a stranger. Due to this, she almost hooks up with David. This isn’t enough info to justify her actions. Sure, she doesn’t hook up with him, but it’s still a crappy move. But then again, the movie has to happen, so there’s that.
If we got more backstory on the couple’s relationship, Ellie’s actions would’ve been clearer. They wouldn’t have been right, but we would’ve understood her character more.
As for everyone else…meh. Ellie has a friend named Courtney (Maya Stojan) who ends up dating David at one point, but she’s absolutely clueless that he’s crazy. Ellie tries to convince her that he is, but Courtney refuses to hear anything. Ellie and Courtney have apparently been friends for a long time, but she would rather trust the guy she’s been dating for what, a few days? Weeks at the most? Yeah, she’s dumb.
Everyone else in the movie is pretty forgettable. Actually, I only watched this movie a few hours ago and I practically forgot everything that happened in it. What I did remember was the house that Ellie and her family lived in. They live in a beautiful and spacious house with high ceilings, huge windows, and a great view of the ocean. They’re right on the beach and…yeah, I was more interested in the house’s architecture than the actual movie. That just shows how investing the plot is.
Overall, Fatal Affair is a cliche thriller that has no surprises or anything else worth while. The cast is diverse which is great and all, but it doesn’t save this film. It’s not the worst, but it’s nothing spectacular. The movie’s available on Netflix, but honestly there’s more exciting things out there to watch.
