Netflix released a couple original thriller movies this month which caught my eye: “The Old Guard” and “Fatal Affair.”
“Fatal Affair” caught my attention before “The Old Guard” because the majority of the actors with speaking roles are people of color.
Upon reading the description, I immediately thought of the 2009 movie “Obsessed”, which starred Idris Elba and Beyoncé. Both films feature couples who become terrorized by someone obsessed with one of the main characters. Throughout the movies, obsession turns deadly when the stalker is rejected. And both films feature people of color as main characters.
After making this connection, I immediately thought about how similar it is to most obsession-based thrillers. It’s not a crime for movies to be similar to another one. People enjoy romantic comedies despite their common clichés.
However, when a movie basically mashes every single trope in the book into one, the experience is no longer enjoyable. “Obsessed” may be like other movies, but it flips gender norms by featuring a female stalker rejected by a man. Even though this does happen in the real world, it’s rarely seen on screen. Plus, the acting and storyline are actually tolerable, unlike “Fatal Affair.”
I agree with most reviews out there in that the diversity of the cast of “Fatal Affair” is just about the only positive aspect of the film. This was surprising to me, especially because Nia Long and Omar Epps have lead roles. Long and Epps are great actors, but they felt so awkward in this film. The dialogue feels fake and cliché, the scenes are predictable and the movie relies way too heavily on typical genre tropes.
This movie’s received poor reviews from critics and audiences alike on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 22% rating from critics and 16% from the audience.
“The movie was laughable when it didn’t mean to be,” one reviewer wrote.
I have to agree. At roughly halfway through, it began to feel like a parody film instead of a true thriller. I found myself cringing at most scenes, wanting to skip ahead. I gave in a few times when the dialogue was too awkward for me to handle.
The memes and Twitter threads which resulted from this catastrophe, however, were enjoyable. Search the hashtag #FatalAffair on Twitter and you’ll enjoy yourself more than you would have during the actual movie. And don’t worry, you don’t have to watch the movie to enjoy the Twitter threads.
Don’t waste your time watching this movie. It gets a 5/10.
This column has been edited to correct a statement to be about “Fatal Affair” instead of “Obsessed.”
Nicole Hindberg can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @HindbergNicole