Film: Tyler Perry’s Duplicity
Cast: Kat Graham, Meagan Tandy, Tyler Lepley
Director: Tyler Perry
Rating: 1.5/5
Runtime: 109 min
“Tyler Perry’s Duplicity,” on Prime Video, depicts a story about Black people. It’s a negative story about the duplicity of some of the characters. The script is rather rudimentary and the development is styled for TV viewing rather than the big screen.
The maker of the academy award nominated Netflix film “The Six Triple Eight” – which showed that he could make good movies too, disappoints this time round.
Fela (Meagan Tandy) and Marley (Kat Graham) are best friends. When Fela loses her husband to police brutality, Marley, a high powered lawyer, wants to help her. Marley and Fela’s co-workers get together to create a case against the city for yet another unjust murder of an unarmed Black man but is that really the unvarnished truth?
A predictable plot, by-the-numbers plotting and twisty development makes for a routine watch. Strong emotional performances from the leads keeps the interest going for a while. The late introduction of some crucial characters was meant to cause confusion but it barely registers.
The film had serious themes like racial profiling, media manipulation, domestic violence, and questionable policing at the core of its story but the flimsy treatment does not do them justice. Though these topics are deeply intertwined, they fail to make a mark on the audience’ consciousness. There’s neither depth, focus nor nuance here – just a duplicitous story that feels manipulative and contrived. This is just one of those brand enhancing attempts that fail the creativity test.
