Mea Culpa Parent Guide

Mea Harper (Kelly Rowland) is a successful defense attorney with a great track record and solid reputation. But her career success hasn’t translated to her personal life: her marriage to Kal (Sean Sagar) is falling apart, thanks to his overbearing mother (Kerry O’Malley), his recent lay off at work, and his stint in rehab for an addiction to pharmaceuticals.

While under stress from her troubled marriage and finances, Mea is approached by Zyair Malloy (Trevante Rhodes), an artist accused of brutally murdering his girlfriend. He’s heard that Mea is the best and wants her to represent him.

Despite her in-laws’ objections, Mea decides to take the case and starts spending time with the womanizing Zyair to try to piece together the story of what happened. But as their association deepens, the professional lines between them begin to blur, and Mea finds herself drawn to the potentially dangerous and seductive artist.

I have nothing but respect for movies that know they’re bad; that are trying to be silly and have no pretensions. What confuses me about Mea Culpa is that I cannot for the life of me determine if it was made in all sincerity or tongue in cheek. It’s too ridiculous to be taken seriously but takes itself too seriously to be funny. Don’t get me wrong, I laughed a few times, but I don’t think that was intended. The level of melodrama hits daytime soap opera heights (or depths, depending on your perspective), with many of the supporting cast lacking the acting skills to pull it off.

The story itself starts out acceptably. “Lawyer gets too involved with her client” is not the worst idea and piling on the family drama at least adds some layers. Unfortunately, the writers lack direction, so the third act quickly dissolves into confusing chaos with plot holes the size of a semi-trailer. The absence of chemistry between Rowland and Rhodes also destroys the seduction plot, as Mea’s attraction to her client is incomprehensible. He’s a good-looking guy, don’t get me wrong, but the complete lack of sparks makes their relationship feel inauthentic. It’s also difficult to swallow Mea’s behavior when it is totally counter-intuitive to most women’s self-preservation instincts.

Not only is Mea Culpa simply a bad film, but the hard Restricted rating is sure to turn off many potential viewers. The sex scenes are so explicit they are almost pornographic, while also managing to be incredibly unsexy. That’s an achievement, albeit a negative one, I’ll give it that. Abundant profanity, violence, and some substance use round out the negative content – but, if you’re familiar with Tyler Perry’s work this isn’t a surprise. In all seriousness I do not recommend this movie to anyone. It’s guilty of being bad and no lawyer can save it.