Fatal Affair Parent Guide

Ellie (Nia Long) and her husband, Marcus (Stephen Bishop) are moving out of the city to a beach house to begin a new chapter of their lives. Their daughter has just left for college, Ellie is quitting her job to open her own law practice, and Marcus is getting back to work after recovering from a major injury. This picture of middle-class comfort is jeopardized when Ellie runs into an old college friend, David (Omar Epps). Initially excited to reconnect, Ellie realizes that David wants much more than friendship and will stop at nothing to get it.

The stalker thriller has been done before. We’ve all seen it. Fatal Affair fails to justify its existence by adding anything new to the genre and lacks the quality to make being derivative forgivable. The plot is predictable, and the writing is lackluster. I do think the production is able to build some tension in parts, but not enough to put me on the edge of my seat. The biggest issue I have is that most of the problems in the story could have been solved easily with communication. If your plot could be undone by one conversation, your writing is lazy. And don’t get me started on plot holes: if your protagonist is a lawyer, she’s not going to forget that the criminal justice system exists. A real lawyer would have gotten a restraining order and filed charges about half an hour into this movie.

One positive, however, are some of the performances. Charismatic and believable, Nia Long shines as the lead. All of the emotional weight of the film rests on her shoulders, and she carries it beautifully. Omar Epps walks the line of charming and creepy well enough for the plot to work, and he gets to be legitimately scary at times. I honestly think he could have become more unhinged as the story plays out, but there is something terrifying about someone doing horrible things with a straight face.

I won’t say that Fatal Affair is the worst thing I’ve ever seen. I might even say it’s passable. But the combination of poor quality and negative content concerns means it isn’t worth the effort, in my book. If you really want to watch something with a more believable perspective on adultery, just watch Hamilton on Disney+ instead. You know you want to.