TV and film are the very things that have helped me get through the pandemic. From revisiting classics such as the Vicar Of Dibley and Sex And The City, to bingeing incredible new series like Unorthodox and I May Destroy You, I have relied on them for distraction and escapism away from everything that’s been going on in the world. 

But I’ve now reached a point where – shock! horror! – I’m actually starting to get bored of everything the streaming platforms have to offer. In fact, I’ve found myself looking for thrills from things that I really don’t think I’d have watched in the pre-pandemic world: easy-to-watch, scary but in a stupid kind of way, and with a very silly ending.

It started when I saw The Meg on Netflix – a film about a very big shark, starring Jason Statham. I have never watched Jaws and I can’t even name another Statham film, but I decided it would be the perfect “silly but scary” thing to just completely zone out with. And I was right.

Then, I got sucked into Behind Her Eyes – I watched the whole series on a Sunday afternoon/evening. While I love a psychological thriller, I do not usually have much time for supernatural stuff. And yet, when it became very clear that the plot was going in a completely rogue direction about astral projection, I remained gripped. “What a stupid ending!” I cried in disbelief through laughter, before telling all my friends they “MUST” watch it. 

Last weekend, I saw the response to one of Netflix’s latest releases, Deadly Illusions. “Me ignoring the reviews and watching Deadly Illusions knowing full well it’ll be shit and a waste of time,” one Twitter user shared. “I’m watching Deadly Illusions on Netflix and the acting and the writing is so so bad but I’m having so much fun,” tweeted another.

I just knew they were speaking my language and that I had to spend my Saturday night watching it. And, reader, I was not disappointed.

Watch the trailer for Netflix’s Deadly Illusions

Firstly, it stars the Kristin Davis, who I know and love as Charlotte York in Sex And The City. In this film, Davis pretty much plays a crime novel-writing version of Charlotte…

Mary Morrison is an incredibly privileged woman who lives in a beautiful Japanese décor-inspired mansion with her very horny husband Tom and their two kids. When the couple run into money problems, Mary starts to write a new book. Her process involves smoking a cigar at her desk, tapping her notepad with a pen and looking into the distance. But in order to do this, she needs a new nanny to look after the kids.

She takes on too-good-to-be-true nanny Grace, who has an excellent wardrobe of preppy T-shirts and kilted skirts. Grace is clearly very fishy from the start, but Mary soon starts having sexual fantasies about the nanny, and she can’t work out what is fact and what is fiction. The lines become blurred.

The script isn’t great. The acting is on par. It’s all very awkward. There are many, many cringe-worthy scenes. And the completely bizarre conclusion to the story in the last 10 minutes, along with a confusing final scene, will make you ask: “What the hell just happened? And why do I care?” But I stuck with it throughout and loved it (my flatmate left the living room after watching it for an hour… but what does she know?).

If you like something that’s low-risk, with cheap thrills and a twist that makes no sense, then Deadly Illusions might just be your perfect weekend viewing.

Images: Netflix