immodest, the new Netflix movie, has everything to become one of those controversial audience successes that the platform frequently reaps. First of all, tells an uncomfortable story. Novelist Grace Miller (Alyssa Milano) writes books about femicide. But it is not only about plots related to the circumstances of the victims. It also makes an obvious overexploitation of gore, gore and sensationalism.
The same character spends much of the first ten minutes of immodest, justifying himself. For the writer it is not a morbid look at violent crimes. Instead, he insists to anyone who will listen that this is a “responsible” dissection of high-profile crimes. “Now from a woman’s perspective,” says Milano’s character.
This is an obvious way to bring a film that would otherwise be a minor thriller into the cultural debate. The director plays with some predictable aspects and between some pamphlet phrases with a feminist air reveal the intention of immodest. That of demonstrating that suspense can also have as its driving force a topic that appears to be critical and completely serious. Or at least, it seems to be the first intention, when Milano’s Miller blurts out some topical phrases. “It’s exploitation of women, misogyny and patriarchy,” he declares when talking about his books.
But immodest it fails to go beyond the general idea that it is a superficial, sweetened and clichéd study of crime. The apparent feminist twist ends up dissolving almost immediately and takes the film back into familiar territory. For your second tranche, it is evident that immodest tries to cover as best it can all the current trends in virtual conversation. There is a small dose of feminism, also death, real crimes in a tedious combination. As if that weren’t enough, the Netflix movie becomes a kind of script built to suit the demands of the audience. And that seems to be his greatest triumph.
Impudent, when the trite is a success
With its simple and notoriously basic air, immodest It begins by showing that Grace, in addition to being a writer, is also a kind of detective in the making. As if that weren’t enough, add the inevitable romance element with a script twist as predictable as it is pointless. When Grace is faced with a real (and brutal) murder, she will do so in the same prefabricated and contrived way as in her books. Of course, along with a handsome police officer, played by Sam Page.
Everything in the Netflix movie is built to satisfy the trusty blend of romance and suspense. But the formula is so soft, predictable and at times ridiculous, that it is clear that the argument is a collection of common places. Several of them fulfill a larger fantasy of a troubled couple battling a sinister enemy.
However, the unique immodest it is that it seems to have been structured to the measure of a pedestrian idea. The usual trope of boy meets girl at the wrong time is taken to an unlikely and confusing layer. Everything, seasoned by topical phrases or with the usual risk scenes. But love, it seems, can even hold its own in the midst of a foggy police case and a story full of blanks. A point that film emphasizes at every possible opportunity.
By the time Alyssa Milano’s character discovers the big reveal at the heart of the plot, the film has already shown its meager resources. But without a doubt he made clear the most obvious: immodest It’s an exercise in pleasing audiences.. One so obvious and shameless that it ends up being irritating. Is it the great trick of Netflix, now without any dissimulation?