thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...
written and directed by Damian Hurley in his directorial debut and starring his mother
Elizabeth Hurley
Elizabeth Jane Hurley (born 10 June 1965) is an English actress and model. Her best-known film roles are Vanessa Kensington in '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997) and as the Devil in '' Bedazzled'' (2000).Georgia Lock, Lauren McQueen, Freddie Thorp, Genevieve Gaunt, Pear Chiravara, Llyrio Boateng, and Max Parker. The film was released in the United States on April 5, 2024, to generally negative critic reviews.
Plot
Mia is haunted by the suicide of her best friend, Rebecca. A year on from Rebecca's death, Mia accepts an invitation from Rebecca's family to their home in the Caribbean, where her college friends are assembling to commemorate Rebecca on the anniversary of her death.
Once on the island, Mia is plagued by suspicions that there's more to Rebecca's death than meets the eye; gradually, she learns that both Rebecca's family and each of the guests are harbouring deadly secrets, all with direct ties to Rebecca. Mia delves into Rebecca's past, desperate to uncover what really happened that fateful day last summer. As more deceptions come to light, Mia finds herself drawn into a world of sex, duplicity and betrayal. Despite the dangers that lurk at every corner, Mia is relentless, determined to uncover the truth... but at what cost? Are some secrets meant to stay buried?
Cast
*
Elizabeth Hurley
Elizabeth Jane Hurley (born 10 June 1965) is an English actress and model. Her best-known film roles are Vanessa Kensington in '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997) and as the Devil in '' Bedazzled'' (2000).Georgia Lock as Mia
* Lauren McQueen as Rebecca
* Freddie Thorp as James
* Genevieve Gaunt as Jemma
* Pear Chiravara as Natasha
* Llyrio Boateng as Sebastian
* Max Parker as Will
Production
MSR Media produced the film. Production for the film began in late 2022 in
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Kitts and Nevis, officially the Federation of Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis, is an island country consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of the Less ...
and ended in December of the same year. On February 28, 2024,
Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to:
Gates
*Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece
*Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey
*Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...
released the trailer for ''Strictly Confidential''.
Reception
Release
''Strictly Confidential'' was released in the United States on April 5, 2024, with a limited theatrical release and on Prime Video,
Apple TV
Apple TV is a digital media player and a microconsole developed and marketed by Apple. It is a small piece of networking hardware that sends received media data such as video and audio to a TV or external display. Its media services include ...
,
Google Play
Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film has an 10% approval rating based on five critical reviews. According to a review by Mike McGranaghan of ''Aisle Seat''; "''Strictly Confidential'' has a screenplay that sounds like it was written by an AI program that was taught every cheesy, straight-to-cable
erotic thriller
The erotic thriller is a film subgenre defined as a thriller with a thematic basis in illicit romance or sexual fantasy. Though exact definitions of the erotic thriller can vary, it is generally agreed "bodily danger and pleasure must remain i ...
from the early '90s." Avi Offer of ''NYC Movie Guru'' states; "A clunky, convoluted and preposterous mess with enough unintentional laughs to make it a guilty pleasure. ''Strictly Confidential'' is like an erotic version of ''
Knives Out
''Knives Out'' is a 2019 American mystery film written and directed by Rian Johnson. Daniel Craig leads an eleven-actor ensemble cast as Benoit Blanc, a famed private detective who is summoned to investigate the death of the bestselling autho ...
'' without the comedy, suspense or Benoit Blanc." Stephen Holland of ''
Screen Rant
''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and comic books. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publications including Comic Book Resources, Collider, MovieWeb and XDA Developers.
...
''; "First-time director Damian Hurley delivers a disappointing erotic thriller full of predictable twists, an illogical plot, and stilted scenes." Brian Orndorf of Blu-ray.com; "Hurley doesn't push the picture's sauciness and he's mostly fatigued when it comes to blowing minds, but ''Strictly Confidential'' does have the novelty of a son exploiting the sex appeal of his mom for the benefit of an otherwise uninteresting whodunit."