In Mea Culpa, lawyer Mea Harper and her husband are experiencing difficulties in their marriage. These difficulties aren’t helped by Mea’s mother-in-law being a total bitch, and openly trying to end her son’s relationship to set him up with someone else.
All of this is of course a concern, but Mea soon has bigger problems when she is approached by alleged murderer, Zyair Malloy, who asks her to represent him in court. If she takes the case, Mia will be defending Malloy against her own brother-in-law who is on the opposing counsel, and Mia’s husband is not happy about this.
Ignoring her husband (because he’s clearly a knob), Mea decides to take on the case regardless and she starts working with Malloy. However, she soon gets a little too involved in Malloy’s life, including the sexual side of his character, and this leads to an affair.
Mea Culpa is an erotically charged crime-thriller starring Kelly Rowland, Sean Sagar, RonReaco Lee, and Trevante Rhodes. The film is written and directed by Tyler Perry, is new to stream on Netflix from today, and is a so-so affair which has potential, but it suffers by being a bit too sedate in its execution.
As a word of warning, do not watch this film late at night if you are in any way feeling sleepy. The unhurried pace of Mea Culpa, specifically during the first 20 minutes, may send you off to the land of Nod and you’ll end up snoozing through the whole thing.
However, if you do manage to keep your peepers open and you find yourself syncing with the tone and rhythm of this film, you may find it enjoyable(ish). Mea Culpa certainly has some appeal, as well as a decent cast, and this keeps things ticking along.
Kelly Rowland leads the movie and she does a fine job of bringing Mea to the screen. The actress plays the role as confident and determined, and it is a solid performance.
Rowland has grown as an actress over the years and her turn as Mea is a far cry from her wobbly days in Freddy vs. Jason (2003), or that time she was on the judging panel of the UK X Factor and she called in ‘sick’. Since then, her acting has come on leaps and bounds, she is the driving force of Mea Culpa, and one of the highlights of the movie.
Trevante Rhodes is also well cast as Malloy, bringing an air of menace and danger to the role, while Sean Sagar and RonReaco Lee are dependable in their supporting roles. The cast for Mea Culpa is certainly where the film is at its best.
Outside of the cast, Mea Culpa is beautifully shot and has a good soundtrack. There’s not much more to offer than this, but it does have these plus points, which are certainly worth mentioning.
Where it falls down though is in its plodding story, as well as its paper thin characters. While Rowland and Co. do a fine job with their parts, they aren’t working with the best material, and the overall story is a bit lacklustre.
There’s a lot of style in Mea Culpa but not a lot of substance. The film also drags on for two hours, which is arguably far longer than it needs to.
It’s certainly not a mess, but its weaknesses drag it down. As noted at the beginning of this review it has potential, it just doesn’t quite know what to do with it.
Mea Culpa isn’t going to be for everyone, and due to the saucy nature of the picture, which includes a scene of Kelly Rowland and Trevante Rhodes writhing around in paint while butt naked, it’s probably best not to watch this movie with your nan. The film is a sex-thriller, similar to erotic films of the past like Sliver (1993), and it is likely to be an acquired taste.
However, if this film connects with you, you may get something out of it. Mea Culpa is underwhelming, and the ending is predictable, but it does have its moments.
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