An Affair to Die For is a 2019 thriller about a secret rendezvous between a man and a woman who cheat on their spouses, leading to very bad things.
Oh boy. Here we go again. Listen folks. If you’re married, just, you know, fantaize all you want but don’t fall into temptation and diddle daddle where you shouldn’t cuz it’s gonna be bad. At least that’s how the movies sure do spin it. Plenty of celluloid’s been devoted to the horrors of a lustful misstep, from comedy to blood gushing horror, and now in the mix comes Víctor García‘s An Affair to Die For, a low budget thriller about such, with all the expected shenanigans in a rather bland twister that comes packed with potential, sure, but stumbles right from the gate.
On a road trip from home, Holly (Claire Forlani) gets a call from her husband Russell (Titus Welliver), who thinks she’s headed to another work conference. She’s not, of course. After some lies, which seem rather blatant, she ends up in a hideaway hotel and checks into her room, where there awaits a box of black lingerie, handcuffs, and a silk mask. She obliges, slips into the skimpy undies, shields her eyes, and locks herself to the bed. Sure enough, not long after, it seems Everett (Jake Abel) arrives (his face unseen by us), and does his thing with the older woman, though has a violent surprise for her as it progresses. But then again … it’s not Everett, who is actually gagged and tied up in the other room. So what’s going on? Nothing good, and it’s only going to get worse.
Holly’s dangerous rendezvous is wrapped up in a slow swirl of questions, as the players involved seem all controlled by someone else, each stuck in tight corners that have them believing there are no choices at hand. It’s an admittedly clever set up and is potent stuff for sure, though the limitations of it all leave it gaping with holes, even as the filmmakers don’t seem all that concerned, looking more to make notches on the cliché tent pole than developing anything all that deep.
Shot like a filmed stage play with almost the entire film taking place in a dimly-lit hotel room, the story goes for a creepy claustrophobia but its simple dialogue and contrived interactions don’t ever sell it straight. It’s basically a game of cat and mouse between Holly and Everett, both led to believe there are larger consequences to their actions, or lack thereof. While Garcia goes for a certain Hitchcockian flavor, there’s actually almost no suspense whatsoever, even with the smart setup playing push-me-pull-you with the characters.
It gets rough a little later, though nothing really all that graphic as the worst is off screen. This is more about keeping the plates spinning and the audience guessing, but there’s just nothing that much of interest in how things got to where they are or how it ends, even with some good performances from the always watchable Forlani and the spirited but underused Welliver. Kudos for the effort, and its attempts at old school whodunnit mentality, but unfortunately, this is underdone. For a better take on this, give the recent Gerald’s Game a watch instead.