Fatal Affair

Fatal Affair is a 2020 American psychological thriller film directed by Peter Sullivan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rasheeda Garner. It stars Nia Long, Omar Epps, Stephen Bishop and KJ Smith.

Fatal Affair
Promotional poster
Directed byPeter Sullivan
Produced by
  • Barry Barnholtz
  • Nia Long
  • Jeffrey Schenck
Written by
  • Rasheeda Garner
  • Peter Sullivan
Starring
Music byMatthew Janszen
CinematographyEitan Almagor
Edited byRandy Carter
Production
company
  • Hybrid Films
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • July 16, 2020 (2020-07-16)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

It was released on July 16, 2020, by Netflix.

Plot

A couple are seen to be having sex at a secluded residence. The woman later goes to the kitchen to get a glass of water. When she hears a loud thud, she goes to find her fling, Travis Green. After a short search, she finds him in the bathroom tub in a pool of blood. As she screams, a hand reaches and grabs her.

In the present, Ellie Warren is a successful attorney living with her husband Marcus who is recovering after a horrible car accident. They have just moved into a new house on the coast from the city of San Francisco now that their daughter Brittany has left for college. At work, Ellie’s boss Janice wants her to stay on after she’s done with Ellie's last case despite Ellie’s decision to leave to start her own practice. Janice introduces the firm’s new tech consultant, David Hammond who Ellie is surprised to see since she knows him from college.

David asks Ellie to get drinks to catch up but Ellie already has plans with her friend Courtney and invites David to meet them. Courtney gets stuck at work, and so Ellie has drinks with David alone. She admits she sometimes feels like she’s sleeping with a stranger with Marcus. They go to a club, where they dance and later begin kissing in the bathroom. They almost have sex, but Ellie says she can’t and rushes off. She goes back to living with Marcus and tries to make their relationship really strong. David constantly calls her. She also gets an office space for her new firm.

David goes to see his therapist. It is revealed that he began seeking therapy due to court ordered anger management, after an incident with a woman named Deborah. Later, David approaches Ellie, and asks why she isn’t returning his calls. He asks Ellie to get coffee, but she says she can’t as she’s married, and leaves. Ellie keeps getting calls and texts from David but blocks his number. She and Marcus have sex, and David watches from outside their window. Ellie and Marcus have Courtney over for dinner, and Ellie is stunned when she brings David as her date. David pretends to not know Ellie, who plays along as well. When alone, Ellie confronts David and tells him that she never wants to see him around her or her family ever again. She tells him to make an excuse to leave, which he does.

Next day, Ellie finds a package on her deck from David. She calls Courtney but isn’t able to get hold of her, and meets David to confront him. She wants to know what it will take to get him away from her and her friends and family. He snaps at her and calls her Deborah. She gives him the record he left for her in the package, and he snaps it in half. Courtney stops at Ellie's firm to meet Ellie and says that David told her about how Ellie tried to seduce him and he turned her down. Not believing Ellie's explanation, Courtney storms out.

Ellie goes to see an old friend from college, who tells her that David was totally obsessed with her in college. She also tells her that David’s ex-wife Deborah looked just like Ellie and that Deborah and her new boyfriend were murdered a few months after the divorce. (At this point it is revealed that Deborah is the woman from the beginning of the movie.) Ellie is terrified. At night, David breaks into Ellie’s house and goes through her things while she sleeps.

Ellie, later receives a video message from David containing surveillance footage of them dancing at the club that he hacked. She also doesn’t know that he has also hacked into her home security as well. She sends Courtney an e-mail with information about Deborah’s murder and how David likely committed it, but David deletes it. He then has sex with Courtney.

Ellie begins following David and is horrified to see him going golfing with Marcus. She is able to convince the concierge at David’s building to let her into his apartment, where she finds pictures of Deborah and of herself taken from afar on his computer. David comes home while she’s still in the apartment and escapes. Ellie calls Courtney and tells her about the pictures and that David is dangerous. Just then, David gets to Courtney’s place. Courtney looks on David’s phone and finds photos of Ellie but David catches her and attacks her.

Ellie rushes to Courtney’s place and finds her unconscious and bleeding from the head. Courtney is taken to the hospital, and the police tell Ellie they are looking for David. At home, Ellie tells Marcus the whole story. He is angry and upset. Meanwhile, David finds a homeless man and sets him on fire with a suicide note, faking his death. The police reveal that they found all the evidence in his home, including a confession for his ex-wife’s murder.

One night, Ellie gets a message from her assistant (presumably from David) to sign some documents. Ellie stops by her office and finds her assistant murdered on the floor. Ellie rushes home and calls the police on the way. She finds Brittany’s boyfriend Scott dead, but can’t find Marcus or Brittany.

David appears and tells Ellie that they can start a brand new life together. Ellie attacks David with a knife and then breaks a vase over his head. She finds Marcus and Brittany tied up. She frees them as the police arrive, but when they rush to the police car they find the cop dead. David attacks them, but they are able to lock Brittany in her car and tell her to drive away. Marcus fights David but he knocks him over a balcony. Ellie stabs David in the chest and finds Marcus and helps him up. David returns to the police car and gets the dead cop’s gun as Marcus and Ellie run to the beach. David confronts them with the gun, and a fight ensues at the cliffside. David falls over the edge and falls to his death.

A few months later, Marcus and Ellie send Brittany back to school, and their house is for sale.

Cast

Production

In October 2019, Deadline reported that Netflix had partnered with Hybrid Films with Peter Sullivan directing the film project.[1] Nia Long, Omar Epps and Stephen Bishop were attached to star in the film, with Sullivan and Rasheeda Garner writing the script.[1] Long, Barry Barnholtz, Brian Nolan and Jeffrey Schenck would serve as producers on the film.[1] In November 2019, it was announced KJ Smith had joined the cast of the film.[2] Principal photography for the film took place on location in Los Angeles, California in 2019.[4]

Release

The film was released on July 16, 2020 by Netflix.[5][6][7] It was the top-streamed film on the site in its debut weekend, then placed sixth the following weekend.[8][9]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 18% and an average rating of 3.71/10, based on 33 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads: "As basic as its title, Fatal Affair gets lost between 'so bad it's good' and 'barely there.'"[10] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 34 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[11]

Kate Erbland of IndieWire gave the film a "C–" and wrote: "Too chaste to be a Fatal Attraction ripoff and far too dull to approach the hammy charms of Obsessed the greatest assets of Peter Sullivan's Fatal Affair are stars Nia Long and Omar Epps. They keep this from looking and feeling like a limp Lifetime movie knockoff."[12]

References
  1. N'Duka, Amanda (October 2, 2019). "Nia Long To Produce & Star Alongside Omar Epps And Stephen Bishop In Netflix Film 'Fatal Affair'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  2. N'Duka, Amanda (November 6, 2019). "Stephen Lang Joins 'Death in Texas'; KJ Smith Cast In 'Fatal Affair'; Oliver Cooper In 'Ghostbusters'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  3. Catsoulis, Jeannette (2020-07-16). "'Fatal Affair' Review: Close Stalker". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  4. Moore, Kasey (June 11, 2020). "Netflix's 'Fatal Affair' Releasing in July 2020". WhatsOnNetflix. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  5. Tannenbaum, Emily (July 1, 2020). "Netflix's Fatal Affair Trailer Is Serving Major Fatal Attraction and Obsessed Vibes". Glamour. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  6. Back, Grace (July 3, 2020). "Netflix's Daring New Thriller 'Fatal Affair' Is A Modern Take On 'Fatal Attraction'". Marie Claire. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  7. Lawrence, Gregory (July 1, 2020). "The Trailer for Netflix's 'Fatal Affair' Delivers Cheesy Domestic Thriller Realness". Collider. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  8. Brueggemann, Tom (July 21, 2020). "'The Outpost' Still Strong on VOD, While John Lewis and Danny Trejo Docs Score". IndieWire. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  9. Brueggemann, Tom (July 27, 2020). "'The Rental' Is Second Film Ever to Be #1 on Both Theatrical and VOD Charts at Same Time". IndieWire. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  10. "Fatal Affair (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  11. "Fatal Affair Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  12. Erbland, Kate (July 16, 2020). "'Fatal Affair' Review: Netflix Goes Flaccid with an Erotic Thriller Starring Nia Long". IndieWire. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
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