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Netflix's Dangerous Lies Review: They Can't be Serious...

A couple inherits a house and money from a benefactor but unfortunately, the walls of this house carry their own brand of dangerous secrets and lies.

Dangerous Lies

What do you say about a film that spends its entire runtime building up a mystery that falls flat on its face towards the last third of the movie? Dangerous Lies isn't false advertising, oh no. There are lies. Some of them are pretty dangerous. There are elements of a thriller that, if it was given a bit more time, might have become a great film. Unfortunately, the production of this debacle seemed rushed, and I'm not sure who to blame for the final product. This movie isn't horrible, but to say it's an excellent thriller flick would be a dangerous lie. If you're not taking the plot too seriously, then you might actually enjoy the unintentional comedy that permeates a film that really wants you to take it seriously.

Script: 4/10

Netflix

The script is original in its premise, and it gets points for that. We're introduced to a girl who works in a diner (Katie), and her husband (Adam) arrives one evening to pick her up. A robbery occurs, Adam saving the day and becoming a hero. A few months later, after her job at the diner doesn't pan out, Katie ends up as a caretaker for an elderly (and, as the setting suggests, filthy rich) gentleman named Leonard. All is not well in paradise, however, and Katie and Adam are facing money woes. Eventually, Katie lets it slip to Leonard what's going on with them, and he offers them a bit of financial support, then promptly dies, leaving the couple his house and estate. From there, the plot descends into a series of poorly veiled attempts to mislead the audience. It creates a set of dead ends that are never adequately tied up by the end of the movie. While the premise is new and fresh, the lack of consistency throughout it turns it from a filling meal into something resembling gruel. To say that the plot is a sieve would be generous.

Cast: 7/10

Netflix

The cast is one of the redeeming factors that this movie has going for it. Camila Mendes (of Riverdale fame) plays the protagonist Katie, and although there are moments where she seems to drop the ball, her skill isn't that bad to make the movie unwatchable. Sasha Alexander plays Detective Chesler, attempting to keep Katie safe from her own bad decisions. Alexander does a really fantastic job, with a part that should have been given more screen time. Jessie T. Usher acts as Adam, and we know him as one of the main characters on Amazon's The Boys. He's not a bad actor, even though some of his facial expressions seem a bit wooden here. The writers do his character no favors, though, leading to my next gripe.

Pacing: 3/10

Katie Ponders

It shouldn't be this hard for a movie that touts itself as a thriller to make you feel...well...thrilled. Too many moments exist in the film where you feel like avoiding what's going on on-screen because it doesn't drive the plot. You also spend a lot of time arguing with your screen for the abysmally stupid decisions some characters make (I'm looking at YOU, Adam). Granted, many thrillers happen because of poor choices. In this case, those poor decisions lead to those dead-end plots that the writers seem to want you to think might be part of the overall mystery. At times it feels like you're watching two movies written independently but then stitched together by someone who doesn't really know what a thriller's supposed to look like. There are moments of real thrill in between, where you're glued to the screen, but those are so few, and far between, they might just as well not exist.

Composition: 4/10

Netflix

As much as I don't like panning the composition of flicks, this one seems like it deserves it. There are genuine moments that the writers and director could have spent building on to make a passable film. It doesn't seem like either one of those parties watches thriller movies to create something that's as low-effort as this film. This production isn't a movie so much as it is a series of bad decisions stitched together with the tired tropes of "money changes people" and "love will keep us alive." It's not overdone since the plot is at least a tiny bit innovative. It's just not well done. The premise this movie offers could have been done so much better, but instead, we get stuck with this.

Overall: 4/10

If you're someone who enjoys poorly-crafted Lifetime original movies with the hint of a plot, then Dangerous Lies might be your cup of tea. If you're a little more discerning as a viewer, you might want to give this one a hard miss. It's not a bad film if you're watching it to make fun of it. If, however, you head into watching it thinking this is a serious flick, there are numerous points where you simply want to facepalm because of either Katie's or Adam's stupid decisions. If you really want to watch this movie, do yourself a favor, and don't take it seriously. If they had marketed this as a comedy, it might have been easier to watch.



 

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