Mikes Film Talk

Freeform are bringing out a murder mystery;’Guilt,’ in the style of real life murder suspect Amanda Knox. Knox was the American student caught up in a turgid sex tinged murder case in Italy back in 2007. Freeform distributes some pretty excellent television ‘Stitchers’ and ‘Shadowhunters’ to name but two.

But coming back to Knox. She was convicted twice and her convictions were overturned twice. She had a good friend who was murdered. Amanda and her Italian boyfriend were the main suspects.  The case made headline news as recently as 2015.

The Story

‘Guilt’ is set in London whereas Knox was in Italy. The American student’s boyfriend is French rather than Italian.  Anthony Head plays Grace Atwood’s  stepfather James (Grace is portrayed by  Head’s  real-life daughter Daisy).   He is a ruthless businessman who travels the globe for his business and prefers his lovers to be the same age as his student stepchild.

Emily Tremaine plays big sister Natalie who is an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney who hates   James. Billy Zane  is the ex-pat lawyer who James hires to keep Daisy out of prison. New Scotland Yard are investigating and Daisy is her own worst enemy in terms of publicity.  

Zane is egotistical. He is eccentric and fun as the flamboyant lawyer who costs big bucks to hire. His character is destined to be disliked by Natalie on sight.

What works

‘Guilt’ looks interesting. (How can it not with the obvious Amanda Knox influence?) The only issue with the series thus far is it’s Americanized version of England.  For example, in one scene, the police officer  “on-scene”  tells the DSI that one of the suspects is a foreigner (French) and the other is American. This would not be the case. Both would have been classed as foreign. Head’s character would be called a “Yank.”

Unlike the Netflix series ‘River‘ which was English as afternoon tea and scones, ‘Guilt’ is set in an England that  the rest of the world sees. There is a royal family connection, a prince with a made up name,  a sex club and  prostitution.  Like many other productions set in the country made by foreigners, there are far too many red phone boxes.  (They were discontinued/retired with only a few left in “historical” areas for the tourists.)

This show is not doing anything different from other shows based in England. ‘Guilt’ is shot in the UK. It seems that producers fear not having those iconic phone boxes the viewer will never really believe that the show is set in England.

Legal issues

Setting the production overseas  means the mystery of who killed Molly will be dealing with a “foreign” legal system. One that does not have the death penalty for a start. With procedures and rules that are slightly different from the US. In some ways it is wildly different. Just check out their version of Miranda rights.

There are a number of familiar English actors in the show: Anthony Head and Daisy Head, Robbie Gee, Naomi Ryan, Cristian Solimeno and Irish actor Kevin Ryan. The American contingent consists of Zane and Tremaine. The acting is top notch.

The clubbing scene in London  is presented quite well and the set design is pretty impressive as well. At the start each wall in the shared flat has wallpaper on it.  The slang is also pretty spot on: Tossers and bugger all, being just two examples that represent how real people talk in England.

50 Shades

There is a “50 Shades” thing going on with a BDSM club for those with a full bank account. Or a fictional prince, or even James the stepdad.  The action is  centered in London. And it features some events that are clearly fictionalized. The public speaking ceremony at the memorial of Molly rings rather false.

Watching the two episodes on offer at the moment, the story grabs you and keeps the interest up.  Something to look forward to in June when it airs on Freeform, ‘Guilt’ may not be as down and dirty as ‘River’ but it does promise to deliver in terms of entertainment and mystery.

Worth a look, or two (that second episode cliff-hanger ending is to die for) so mark it on the calendar, June 13 on Freeform.