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| Images Courtesy of Lionsgate |
Damian Hurley's debut feature film is an interesting organism. On the surface it is a sterile erotic thriller, as if AI scripted an episode of Melrose Place. However, if this conceit is embraced, it mutates into a hilarious, melodramatic romp in the Caribbean. Featuring an impossibly gorgeous cast, improbable plot twists, and a disappointing lack of kink, Strictly Confidential is another in a long line of post covid films that are seeking to reclaim the glory of the direct to DVD heyday of erotica in the late 1990's. The result, while nowhere near the glory of such prolific trashy throwaways, is at least passable for comedic relief.
Mia returns to her late friend's house in a tropical paradise, a year after her suicide. After her arrival, she begins to suspect that everyone, both family and friends are harboring dark secrets as to the true nature of her best friend's fate. The script, written by Hurley spends roughly the first two acts being a paint by numbers erotic thriller, with the did she or didn't she question dominating the proceedings, with a few sex sequences dappled throughout. Hurley's mother, Elizabeth, stars as the deceased's mother, and while the filming of certain sequences becomes rather uncomfortable with this realization, Hurley does an admirable job of slipping into the dirty end of the pool.
The rest of the cast are essentially one amalgamation of every archetype for beauty imaginable. The characters are statuesque models who most assuredly have never struggled with anything beyond ordering brunch, and yet, there is an interesting, almost addictive quality to watching them as subjects from a distance, and George Burt's cinematography is the perfect accomplice. The optics are flooded with warm whites and pastels, ofsetting the cool, uncertain nights, while virtually every character sleeps with another and the mystery becomes so convoluted and nonsensicial that it almost reaches the heights for which it was aiming, only to come crashing down with expected cliches.
Now available for digital rental, Strictly Confidential
is sadly, not the rebirth of the erotic thriller, however, it is a fun, ridiculous time
at the movies. Embrace the sexy outfits and godlike appearances, and
watch as some of the inanest dialogue and implausibly plot twists invented
decades ago are revisited upon the viewer time after time. The
ultimate yield will weigh heavily upon how much the audience simply indulges,
but those who go along for the preposterous ride will fine so much to lampoon,
they'll forget to be aggrieved.
--Kyle Jonathan