ReviewDeception of the Novelist film review: sexy infidelity drama gives way to unconvincing murder thriller
- Story of a husband blackmailed by a lover, who is mysteriously killed, derives its interest from the murderer’s audacious attempt to hide his, or her, tracks
- Despite intense performances from Justin Cheung and Jeana Ho as an unhappily married couple, the film has too many laboured twists and turns
2.5/5 stars
An unhappy marriage goes straight to hell in the sexy thriller Deception of the Novelist, an ambitiously scripted yet ultimately unconvincing film by Christopher Sun Lap-key, director of 2015’s Imprisoned: Survival Guide for Rich and Prodigal and 2011’s 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy .
The last in a trilogy of films adapted from stories by internet author XXharuki – following the erotic drama Due West: Our Sex Journey (2012) and social parody The Sinking City: Capsule Odyssey (2017) – Sun’s film morphs from titillating infidelity drama to murder mystery and then, briefly and somewhat unnecessarily, to torture-porn wannabe.
Acquainted since their adolescence and now married with a young son, popular novelist Jay (Justin Cheung Kin-seng, Rhapsody of Kidnapping ) and former nurse Kiki (Jeana Ho Pui-yu, Special Female Force ) have seen their relationship become fraught because of his womanising ways and her diminishing interest in their family affairs.
Shortly after a beautiful woman named Elaine (Linah Matsuoka) moves into one of his vacant properties, situated one floor above the luxury flat in which the family lives, Jay begins a sexual affair with his new tenant and clumsily hides it from Kiki. When Elaine begins to blackmail him, and his amoral buddies (6-Wing and C-Kwan, from the hip hop act Fama) plant the idea of murder in Jay’s head, things take a fatal turn.