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Taboo: Family Secrets
USA 2024
produced by Susan Helfrich, Deborah Twiss, Rich Wolff, Michael Conroy (supervising) for Lucstar Productions
directed by Deborah Twiss
starring Deborah Twiss, Costas Mandylor, Staffan Edenholm, Ashley Westover, Patricia McKenzie, Russ Camarda, Art Christensen, Libby Christensen
written by Deborah Twiss, music by Michelangelo Sosnowitz
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Back when, marrying wealthy lawyer Lukas (Costas Mandylor) seemed to be
the perfect solution for all Amanda's (Deborah Twiss) problems, he would
take care of her legal issues, she would in return get a nice home, a
carefree lifestyle, and even the family she had always wanted, especially
after her miscarriage. That was some years ago though, ever since Lucas
had grown rather cold to her, and she just knows (correctly) that he has
an affair with paralegal Sandra (Patricia McKenzie), and her stepdaughter
Jillie (Ashley Westover) makes no secret out of deploring her, even if she
loves Jillie very much. Enter stepson Tyler (Staffan Edenholm), with whom
Amanda has always had an amicable relationship, but who has been away from
home for three years and has since grown into a quite handsome man. Amanda
and Tyler are still on friendly terms and really do enjoy each other's
company ... and soon it becomes clear there's more between them than that,
and they start having sex. Not that Lukas would notice as he spends most
of his nights with Sandra under a flimsy pretense, but Jillie notices. And
Jillie's in her rebellious phase and wants to get away from home - and she
figures she can blackmail her stepmother for half a million Dollars in
return for her silence. Now this hurts Amanda twofolds, on one hand
because she sees so much of herself in Jillie's rebellious streak, but on
the other hand she also hasn't got nearly enough money to pay up since
Lukas is in control of all their wealth. In her desparation, Amanda turns
to her ex, Jazz (Russ Camanda), who has just been released from prison and
who still feels drawn to her, and vice versa, and she promises to take
care of the situation - for just one more night with her ... Elements
of erotic thriller and soap opera collide in this movie - and the result
is a film that actually has a lot of emotional depth, especially since
it's based on believable characters that are brought to life through their
ambivalence rather than fitting into cookie-cutter categories, and the
direction gives them both enough time and space to actually develop to
their potential to serve the story just right. And a strong cast of course
helps to bring the film to life. And then there's of course a totally
unexpected but actually highly satisfying ending that only helps to make
this movie really worthwhile.
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