Deadly Illusions

This is a predictable movie that feels like so many others. Movies about the attractive au pair/assistant/secretary/nanny who seduces the family's dad, or mom, or kids are neither new nor unusual. Deadly Illusions is just one more mediocre addition to that cinematic heap, little more than a series of screenwriting clichés lined up one after another. The plotting is so clunky and heavy-handed that there really can be no spoiling of this mess. Grace is predictably an agent of evil and mayhem. The choice to use what may or may not be flashbacks to misleadingly suggest that any number of characters may or may not have committed certain acts is a weak conceit that both dilutes moments of suspense and casts doubt on clues that viewers may be relying on to decipher the mysteries.

But the real problem here is that it's impossible to sympathize with Mary, an overprivileged writer, wife, and mom who sexually initiates and encourages Grace, then cuts off the affair. What could be more irresponsible? Further, Kristin Davis lacks the command and spark required to render Mary, the main character with the most screen time, sufficiently charismatic to carry a movie. We need to root for Mary and, given that her behavior as the employer of a younger, less powerful nanny is irresponsible and sexually predatory, the movie is absurdly imbalanced. Grace is set up as the evildoer, but Mary is a sexual predator who keeps making bad decisions about her employee. If the pair worked in an office, creepy Mary would be looking at reprimands and a severance package. In the end, we have actual mental illness and evil in the house versus the casual and thoughtless selfishness of the overprivileged. It's hard to know where to look.