'Infidelity can be Fatal' on Lifetime Review: Great plotline marred by weak direction
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Infidelity can be Fatal' debuted on April 7, 2023 on Lifetime, and it looks like the movie does seem to fit well into the category of mystery and thriller that the network is famous for. Screenplay writer Erica Deutschman brings to the table a movie that successfully manages to keep the audience interested till the last cut but there seems to be something lacking.
'Infidelity can be Fatal' on Lifetime tells a tale of a jaded private investigator with troubling-trust issues who finds herself falling in love, and as one would have it, her love story isn't as regular as you might think. The movie, starring Lanie McCauley and Matthew MacCaull, superseded our basic expectations, but not all of them. Here is my full review.
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Great storyline but a below-par movie
When it comes to the genre of mystery, many a times a lot of screenplays don't perform well. Usually, the audience can start guessing the ending the minute the movie begins and if the movie doesn't have a great plotline, the audience's guesses always end up being the right one. Surprisingly, this wasn't the case with 'Infidelity can be Fatal'.
The theme, "Infidelity" is obviously well-explored in the movie since the protagonist is a private investigator who knocks out cheaters around the world.
On the other hand, what I enjoyed the most in the movie was the fact that it did end up taking me by surprise at the conclusion which is what makes a good, if not great of a story. So what lacked in the film? Since a good screenplay is not the only element that can turn a good story into a film, 'Infidelity can be Fatal' lacked a bit in the department of direction.
The story had potential but the direction of the film didn't quite feel up to the mark. The audience could have felt more drawn to the movie if the movie's direction did justice to its story. Lucy's life was portrayed in segments that made it quite difficult for the audience to relate to the character. The creators could have dived more into the part where Lucy falls in love with Clive but lost her chance to true love, and quite frankly that whole segment felt a bit too rushed. Even the ending, though interesting, didn't feel like it went at the perfect pace. It felt like the story had great potential but there were quite key features that made it seem a bit too unstructured
The actors lacked a sense of guidance
Lanie McCauley portrays the character of Lucy - who is known to have major trust issues which only grow as she works on more and more cases as a private detective. Lucy, however, finds herself falling in love with Clive (Matthew MacCaull) who was one of her clients. While the actors did have good chemistry together, individually, their performance didn't seem at par. This could very well be the result of a lack in direction and the fact that their characters didn't get enough moments to be explored emotionally. There were quite a lot of moments where their acting seemed a bit too pretentious, in other words, they felt quite distant from their roles and it didn't sit well with the audience. Carly Fawcett, who plays Lucy's best friend Camy, did a decent job at playing the supportive role in the movie. She didn't necessarily have a lot of scenes but the ones she did have, she acted them quite nicely. All in all, collectively, the story that could have turned into something else but didn't reach its potential.