I'll be honest; I was expecting to make a hit and run on this one since the lead actress is so alluring, but I actually stayed to watch the whole film. The script is not great, and the directing is okay at best, BUT. The entire film is gorgeously shot, and the shots of the estate and the Italian countryside are almost enough to keep watching all by itself.
The film starts out with great establishing shots, and gives the impression of being a fairly to-the-point erotic drama, but that was merely the worst executed aspect of the film. It tends to lose its identity whenever the lead character falls into reverie with a memory or fantasy, and the music in these sequences is just bizarre and terrible. To contrast, the score is actually nice and well suited to the dramatic narrative, which makes up the bulk of the film.
The story is predictable and the execution is poor. The lead actress isn't much of one, but both she and the male love interest are stupid hot, and there are plenty of teasing shots of the two of them, separately, but in a way where the film can't decide if it's an erotic drama focused on steamy boudoir scenes, or a tourism show reel that happens to feature (phenomenal) cleavage and a sweaty male model. Well, to be fair, Gena Miller definitely seems like a model in a film, but Christian Howard is actually a good actor. But the dramatic weight of the film primarily rests on Victor Ptak and one scene near the end of the film, and he's clearly a seasoned actor.
Unoriginal and unsatisfying, but thanks for the nice views (seriously, the director just needs to be a DOP, cause the photography and color grading is exquisite.)
Review by LNeroBlockedParent2022-08-30T05:20:59Z
I'll be honest; I was expecting to make a hit and run on this one since the lead actress is so alluring, but I actually stayed to watch the whole film. The script is not great, and the directing is okay at best, BUT.
The entire film is gorgeously shot, and the shots of the estate and the Italian countryside are almost enough to keep watching all by itself.
The film starts out with great establishing shots, and gives the impression of being a fairly to-the-point erotic drama, but that was merely the worst executed aspect of the film. It tends to lose its identity whenever the lead character falls into reverie with a memory or fantasy, and the music in these sequences is just bizarre and terrible. To contrast, the score is actually nice and well suited to the dramatic narrative, which makes up the bulk of the film.
The story is predictable and the execution is poor. The lead actress isn't much of one, but both she and the male love interest are stupid hot, and there are plenty of teasing shots of the two of them, separately, but in a way where the film can't decide if it's an erotic drama focused on steamy boudoir scenes, or a tourism show reel that happens to feature (phenomenal) cleavage and a sweaty male model. Well, to be fair, Gena Miller definitely seems like a model in a film, but Christian Howard is actually a good actor. But the dramatic weight of the film primarily rests on Victor Ptak and one scene near the end of the film, and he's clearly a seasoned actor.
Unoriginal and unsatisfying, but thanks for the nice views (seriously, the director just needs to be a DOP, cause the photography and color grading is exquisite.)