“Some secrets are best kept secret” complements the mascara shake ad for “Strictly Confidential.” But, a nuclear style underground shelter might just be what’s needed here to house all the deliberately outrageous twists spawned in this ‘silly’ soap opera. This one starts out looking for something like an erotic thriller-mystery and then in a series of retrospective aids so comprehension-of-the-plot-clothers monologues, more suitable for “Dynasty,” than Agatha Christie, goes down the road.
Spotlight’s mom Lisa Larkin’s name is at the head of the cast and in the production line, and her people are looking for clothes to put on their toned body among the youth standing where there’s allegedly sunshine the tax paradise island of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Except this bollywood, what appears to be a fun cast and crew working holiday in the Caribbean is quite hard work for the average viewer. Still, if done in the right frame of mind and with right alcohol on the table, this can be enjoyable … not in the way it will be expected to be. On the April 5, Lionsgate is distributing to US Cinemas, and all digital and on-demand platforms.
A note of the fashion/travel advertisement companies is however always established by its images, images of thespians clad in bikinies frolicking in deep blue seas, being caressed by muscular bare chested men among others. This opening montage is not made any better when it is revealed that it is staged by somebody that is being soaked in a luxury bath tub, surrounded by scented candles.
That person wearing a cigar is Mia (Georgia Lock) and so they repeatedly make Mia emerge from around such troubled fog every 20 minutes or so. In this case she is an ex best friend of Rebecca (Lauren McQueen) who is said to have committed suicide by drowning last summer. In any case, since the reasons for the suicide remain unclear, the woman’s body has not been recovered and since the woman’s father also died in some strange circumstances weeks earlier, this entire event is still without any ‘closure’.
That is the very emotive effect that mother Lily (Hurley) and surviving eldest daughter Jemma (Genevieve Gaunt) want to achieve by inviting Rebecca’s friends, again, for another holiday which is the first since the tragedy occurred.
The painful episode still haunts them and they have cut off all communication since, to the extent that Mia, one of the main actresses, has even broken up with her boyfriend James (Freddie Thorp). Thanks to this, the above-mentioned are happily reunited, as are, Rebecca’s new boyfriend Will (Max Parker), and everyone’s friend Natasha (Pear Chiravara), who for some reason now pulls apart on stage at some elite exclusive joint and is strutting around like a high society whore. (She is described as the one with who lives with some rest of the people in the movie and have no jobs; they must all be rich)
Mia is full of questions, especially about the incidents of the previous summer. About it, alongside a painful grief, no one else wants to take the floor the interviews reveal. It is instead about having the strength to keep their secrets clever. And they are quite awful at it, as open mouthed Mia stumbles in on people actively engaged in the art of cavorting with a ‘wrong’ partner.
The film also features makeout scenes in the style of flashbacks but the first hot scenes in sex red tinged “skin emax cosmos” Zalman King “movies” fictional appeal doesn’t last long. The story moves forward and instead of intrigue and plot set pieces that do not seem to have anything else rather than be weighted with flashbacks, the writers focus on the more interesting aspects of the film. Where baffling template cliches laced with castles spiral out of control, that are parodically, increasingly absurd.
Starting from roughly the two-thirds mark, the increasing waves of nonsense start to impressively assist the movie. Where once walked a sheer but lightly entertaining interruption, now is the type of an establishment whose main story climaxes come as huge roars of laughter courtesy of so-called ‘overused’ phrases and some of the less-compelling chemistries on the screens. The burden of histrionics rests most noticeably with Lock. Her appearance cannot be said to be left unhurt.
However, as it seems, the parts are, as written and directed, likely to puzzle even the best interpreters. The logic of action and psychology for various reasons seems to be second to the problems of what the performers will look, dressed in the ambiguous scanty or deep cleavage exposing costumes made by Gabbi Edmunds. The same lack of emotion in storytelling is also present in Ogilvie’s work, with the focus shifted towards displaying prop designer Tom Downey’s gorgeous furnishings and stunning ocean views, rather than building the tension. Michael Richard Plowman’s original score only accentuates the fact that we are essentially presented a tacky soap opera in B movie format.
Reportedly filmed in just 18 days, ‘Strictly Confidential’ is best regarded as part of the education process of the junior Hurley, who under these conditions performs admirably. His film has quite enough professional sheen and no less than average entertainment value, be it in its purest form or otherwise.
However, one assumes that the time limit did not apply to his scriptwriting, in which case, labor of that sort should surely be assigned to others in the future projects.
For watch more movies visit: 123Movies