Why Are We All Watching Deadly Illusions On Netflix? - Refinery29

Skip navigation!ADVERTISEMENTStory from MoviesADVERTISEMENTWhy Are We All Watching Deadly Illusions On Netflix?Ineye KomoniboLast Updated March 29, 2021, 2:08 PM Photo: courtesy of Voltage Pictures.This story contains spoilers for erotic thriller Deadly Illusions, now streaming on Netflix. More than a year in quarantine has led to some very interesting Netflix queues — remember the internet's obsession with Tiger King? — but some of our pandemic viewing choices are definitely skewing a bit...odd these days. Look no further than the titles of the ever-changing Netflix Top 10, in which a particularly bizarre project called Deadly Illusions has been sitting in the top spots since its release.Deadly Illusions hit Netflix last week and has since become one of the streamers hottest offerings. The story, written and directed by Anna Elizabeth James, is described as an erotic thriller, but let's just say it's less sexy than it is a psychological slasher film. In the movie, successful author, wife, and mother Mary Morrison (Kristen Davis) finds herself in a bind when she's financially forced to pen another novel for her publishing company. Writing is Mary's passion, but since becoming a mother, it hasn't exactly been easy to set time aside to churn out an entire book. At the suggestion of her husband Tom (Dermot Mulroney), Mary seeks out a full-time nanny from a reputable company to help manage her household while she's writing.AdvertisementADVERTISEMENTEnter Grace Taylor (Greer Grammar), a young woman with a positive outlook and a love for books who clicks with Mary easily on their first meeting. In fact, their chemistry is explosive; there's a strong sexual tension between the women that does not go unnoticed by Mary. She decides to use the confusing feelings as fuel for her novel, writing about her loaded interactions with Grace in her draft. The two have close encounters at a lingerie store, during a bike ride, while sharing one of Mary's expensive cigars, and even in the chef's kitchen of the Morrison family home. It's all very inappropriate and possibly imagined — it's kind of difficult to tell because this is right where takes a weird (and low-key predictable) turn.Unbeknownst to Mary, Grace is also connecting with Tom in a similar way, enticing him with those same baby blues. We also find out that the young woman isn't actually a vetted hire from the nanny company Mary sought out; Grace is actually a dangerous, emotionally unstable young woman who appears to be dealing with either dissociative identity disorder or demon possession — Deadly Illusions doesn't do a great job of distinguishing the two, which is both problematic and lazy storytelling.What follows this reveal is Grace's sudden transformation into an unhinged murderer with no clear motive. She kills Mary's best friend and brutally attacks Tom before being apprehended by the authorities. At the very end of the film, Mary visits Grace at a facility, and one of the women ends up leaving in a disguise, but it's impossible to tell who it is.AdvertisementADVERTISEMENTNot shockingly, Netflix subscribers hate this movie and are also obsessed with it at the same time.

Me watching the entire movie #DeadlyIllusions pic.twitter.com/mSu8gwi0cS

— essenia (@theessenia) March 20, 2021

i watch deadly illusions for the plotthe plot: pic.twitter.com/GBdtOieHj0

— ely (@godrosebyrne) March 19, 2021

I just watched Deadly Illusions on Netflix... I honestly might cancel my subscription all together

— Blame 𝙎é ༄ (@SATURNZ_V) March 18, 2021

Deadly Illusions did one thing.... made me horny

— J. Isabel 🇩🇴 (@msjadore7) March 18, 2021

Many modern erotic thrillers don't make much sense, and that's perfectly fine; with popular films like 365 DNI and Behind Her Eyes, we may have tuned in for the intrigue but truly stayed for the sex. Deadly Illusions doesn't deliver on either of those things. The sex scenes aren't all that sexy, the characters are half-baked, and the general plot is pretty all over the place. Yet here we are, making it one of Netflix's most popular titles simply because we love mess. Quarantine, am I right?Deadly Illusions is now available for streaming on Netflix.AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT EntertainmentEmerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights Whitewashed Heathcliff...Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights opens with a scene I hated so much, I almost walked out of the theater. Don’t worry, it goes up from there! The sceby Kathleen Newman-B...EntertainmentThe Gallerist: Natalie Portman & Jenna Ortega Lead Messy, ...Ambition is a hell of a drug. In Cathy Yan’s The Gallerist, which premiered at Sundance last weekend, two women trying to make it in the art world coby Kathleen Newman-B...EntertainmentThe Moment Doesn’t Take Charli XCX Seriously & Neither Sho...Mild spoilers ahead. Charli XCX hates being famous. She’s also terrified of becoming irrelevant. She loves pop music but couldn’t care less about beingby Kathleen Newman-B...AdvertisementADVERTISEMENTEntertainmentPeople We Meet On Vacation‘s Emily Bader & Tom Blyth...For years, romance fans have been patiently waiting for our fave romance novels to be adapted into movies. During the onscreen rom-com drought of the past by Kathleen Newman-B...EntertainmentHow Does The People We Meet On Vacation Movie Differ From ...As someone who grew up in fandom, the People We Meet On Vacation screenwriter Yulin Kuang knows the importance of a good book-to-screen adaptation more thaby Rachel ChoyEntertainmentThe Best Performances Of The Year Were BlackWelcome to “What’s Good,” a column where we break down what’s soothing, distracting, or just plain good in Hollywood with a “rooting for everybodby Kathleen Newman-B...EntertainmentTired Of Christmas Movies? These Comfort Films Are The Perfect Wi...by Melanie CurryEntertainmentEmma Mackey & Jamie Lee Curtis On Grief, Trauma & What Comes NextSpoilers ahead. Is it actually possible to recover from childhood trauma, or will the effects linger forever? That’s the question Ella McCay asks, thby Rachel ChoyEntertainmentAndra Day Says Bradley Cooper “Backed Up His Support” By Casting ...Is This Thing On? may not seem like a movie where you’d find Grammy-award winner and Oscar nominee Andra Day. It’s about a white man doing stand-up comby Kathleen Newman-B...EntertainmentThe 55 Best Christmas Movies To Get You Into The Festive Spiritby Alexandra KosterEntertainmentPaul Mescal & Jessie Buckley Know Hamnet Is Going To Make ...I was warned about Hamnet. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a crier and that I am easily susceptible to emotional manipulation; whether it’s a schmaltby Kathleen Newman-B...MoviesThere Are A Few Thanksgiving Movies, Actuallyby Lia BeckAdvertisementADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENT