Movie Review: ‘Deadly Illusions’ On Netflix

Review by James Lindorf

“Deadly Illusions” has plenty of head-scratching moments but could be the perfect movie to watch via Teleparty (formerly NetflixParty) with a group of friends. You could take a drink after every strange musical sting and argue if the events on screen are happening or just in someone’s mind.

Kristin Davis (“Sex and the City”) plays Mary Morrison, the best-selling author of a series of books featuring plenty of sex and murder. After putting away a sizable nest egg, Mary began a long hiatus that would allow her to spend more time with her young twins. After a bad investment by her husband Tom (Dermot Mulroney), Mary decides to take the multi-million dollar offer her needy publisher has been dangling. Mary is strangely resistant to return to writing with a vague comment about how “strange things happen to her when she writes.” With no idea how to balance writing with being a good wife, an attentive mother to her school-age children, and keeping her dream home and shiny new Range Rover clean, she decides to hire a nanny, who also helps with the cleaning and cooking for some reason.

Sweet doe-eyed college student Grace (Greer Grammer) is a dream. She loves reading actual books, admires all writers, and is excellent with the kids. Grace is beautiful but so innocent Mary doesn’t worry about her husband having a wandering eye no matter what her best friend Elaine (Shanola Hampton) has to say on the subject. It doesn’t take long before the relationship begins to take a strange turn and the only question being if it will go the direction of “Single White Female” or “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.” To shake off her writer’s block, Mary decides to use Grace as her muse, which leads to skinny dipping, bra shopping, and boozy dancing with the babysitter. Simply put, Mary has a dubious work ethic and would lose the other half of their savings if Grace made a call to HR. However, the film’s mystery is whether these sapphic dalliances or Tom’s indiscretions are real or are they illusions taking place in Mary’s mind.

The film features quality performance from its three main characters, but it may be easy to shine when the depth of character is only knee-deep. We learn nothing about Grace because Mary apparently never bothered to ask a single question before hiring her to watch over her children. Then there is Mary with the latest tech and stylings in her home and vehicle but prefers her music on vinyl, writing her novels in longhand like the good old days. There is even less to learn about Tom, who is either the perfect husband or a cheating, secret-keeping jerk. It is up for the audience to decide.

If you were to write a list of the five most likely outcomes or reasons everything is happening, it is pretty much a guarantee that one of those five will be correct. Perhaps the movie’s best twist is that while the ending isn’t groundbreaking, its source may come as a surprise. “Deadly Illusions” was written and directed by Anna Elizabeth James, and it shows creative promise. If the performances, the jokes over the silly moments, and the debate about what is real results in enough views on Netflix, it won’t be long before we hear from her again.