There is so much recycled material in “Fatal Affair” that its carbon footprint must have been zero. That’s the good news in this Netflix dance of déjà vu, one with scarcely a camera move, plot swerve or line of dialogue that hasn’t already graced myriad romantic thrillers and special-victim police procedurals.
At its center is the aspirational marriage and luxurious beachfront home of Ellie (Nia Long) and Marcus (Stephen Bishop, likely lamenting his far juicier role as a playboy in the ridiculously entertaining BET series “Being Mary Jane”). Ellie is a lawyer who’s rarely to be found lawyering; instead, she has sex (in a shower, in front of a fireplace) and near-sex (in a public bathroom). This last occurs after an ill-advised slow dance with David (Omar Epps), an old friend from school hired by her firm as a technical consultant.
“I need some water,” Ellie gasps, dehydrated by the fog of David’s pheromones and Estelle’s “Please Set Me on Fire” moaning thickly on the soundtrack. But David is not about to be placated with look-at-me lingerie; erotomania in full swing, he’s soon lurking in Ellie’s bedroom and sniffing her unmentionables. He’s also about to affirm that “tech consultant” is just what hackers write on their business cards.
Accessorized with bloody bathwater and crashing surf, this designer-trashy melodrama (directed by Peter Sullivan) overflows with big little lies and baffling behavior. (One minute Ellie is complaining that her husband feels like a stranger; the next they’re frolicking like newlyweds.) Seemingly devised by algorithm and performed by actors who can only be described as good sports, “Fatal Affair” is so soggy not even Estelle could set it ablaze.
Fatal Affair
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 29 minutes. Watch on Netflix.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
