Summary
A functional thriller that might be just answer to your isolation life needs.
With cinemas in lockdown, and the world relying on indoor entertainment, 2020 may be the year of the Netflix Original Movie. DANGEROUS LIES, from veteran TV movie director Mitchell M. Scott, is just the perfect fare for the endless Midday Movie vibe we’re rocking at the moment.
The alternative title used in some markets Windfall may be the best description of writer David Golden’s screenplay. A year after being hailed a hero for stopping a diner robbery, couple Adam (Jessie T. Usher) and Katie (Camila Mendes) are broke. At least until elderly Leonard (Elliot Gould) unexpectedly dies and leaves Katie, who was acting as his caregiver, all of his worldly goods. Naturally, it starts the cycle of titular deception.
The plot-driven narrative makes sense within Golden’s oeuvre of about a dozen Christmas movies, a playground that arguably lays the structural groundwork for this light morality play-cum-thriller. Built around a series of twists, MacGuffins and mystery characters – from a guy trying to buy the property, a plucky cop to hidden stashes of loot – DANGEROUS LIES covers the basics of a thriller by including all of them.
Yet the primary reason most punters will turn up is for the cast. Mendes, best known for her role as Veronica Lodge on the CW’s Riverdale, is an engaging lead, even if most of her role is just reacting to things. Usher feels deliberately kept at arm’s length for much of the film, especially as we start questioning everyone’s motives. Sasha Alexander is the most interesting of the support cast, although it must be said that Gould is criminally underused.
On a technical level, the film is adept at the dark corners and unnerving angles you’d expect from this largely single-setting thriller. Cinematographer Ronald Richard has been given a lot of opportunities to practice lighting Mendes as one of the main DPs on Riverdale. His opening shots in the neo-noir of a neon-lit diner are certainly handsome.
Delivering exactly what it sets out to do, DANGEROUS LIES never reaches for anything more than being a functional thriller. “I’m done with alright,” says Usher’s character at one point, refusing to settle for his lot in life. Yet here is a film that’s perfectly comfortable with alright, carving out a niche for lounge room bound viewers around the world.
2020 | US | DIRECTOR: Mitchell M. Scott | WRITER: David Golden | CAST: Camila Mendes, Jessie T. Usher, Sasha Alexander, Elliot Gould | DISTRIBUTOR: Netflix (Global) | RUNNING TIME: 96 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 30 April 2020 (Global)
