A Spicy New Crime Drama Is Reigning Over Netflix's Top 10

A new Tyler Perry legal thriller, "Mea Culpa," has quickly climbed up the Netflix global Top 10 charts despite being poorly received by critics. There's an absurdist streak in the story where almost nothing makes much sense, leaning hard into exaggerated and predictable plot progressions that feel unrealistic from start to finish. Perhaps this willful absurdity contributes to the guilty pleasure of it all, shooting "Mea Culpa" to the top of the streaming charts, where it's sitting at number one as of this writing.

Part sleazy erotic thriller, part relationship drama, "Mea Culpa" centers on criminal defense attorney Mea Harper (Kelly Rowland), who needs to take on a case involving artist Zyair Malloy (Trevante Rhodes) and his deceased girlfriend Hydie (María Gabriela González). Although there are reasons to believe that Zyair is guilty of murdering Hydie, Mea's increasing attraction to her client further complicates matters, despite her dedication to uncovering the truth. After Mea experiences a string of hardships at home, she gives in to temptation, only to realize that she is now part of an unsavory conspiracy involving sinister paintings and hidden secrets.

Apart from Rowland and Rhodes, "Mea Culpa" stars Nick Sagar, Sean Sagar, RonReaco Lee, Shannon Thornton, and Kerry O'Malley. Let's take a look at the themes of the film, along with what Perry had to say about writing and directing an erotic thriller that also explores hidden agendas and the deceptive nature of personal relationships. 

On paper, Mea seems like a self-assured character with an enviable job, capable of handling tough legal scenarios. However, Perry's treatment of Mea as the film progresses feels arbitrary and dramatic for no satisfying reason. Mea is established as a level-headed attorney, but immediately ends up making amateurish, law-breaking blunders that defy logic, and puts up with behavior that feels ramped up to non-negotiable extremes. There are familial dynamics that are exaggerated for dramatic effect, but these aspects are so lacking in depth that they barely allow us to understand Mea or her worldview better, or deepen our understanding of the world she inhabits.

Note: Spoilers for "Mea Culpa" ahead.

The film's climactic twist simply doesn't work, but in terms of thematic value, it touches upon ideas of ambition and envy, where the perpetrator turns out to be someone close to her all along. The nature of these motivations is also pretty convoluted, as revenge and career aspirations come together to form a nonsensical plan to frame an innocent, with a murderous confrontation to round things up in the end. Perry executes these twists with extreme seriousness, and he spoke to Tudum about his process of crafting these narrative curveballs within the erotic thriller framework:

"This is a 'watch it again'...Every time you watch it you'll see that I drop little Easter eggs all along the way so that if you watch it back, you'd say, 'Oh, that's why'...The characters, the way they show up in my head, they show up as real people telling me stories...And I'm looking at what they're saying and listening to their motivations. And it all leads me to wherever the twist is supposed to happen."

"Mea Culpa" is currently streaming on Netflix.