Wow. So Bitter Desire has to be one of the worst films that I have seen in a bit. There is no other way to put it. Written by Thomas Bodine and directed by Simon Oliver, the film follows injured police officer Steve (Nathan Hill) who becomes the target of a murder scheme orchestrated by Andrew (Tass Tokatlidis) the man he put in jail. With this admittedly interesting but played scenario we are subjected to excruciatingly bad dialogue, absurd plot development and acting that acting that is on par with any given high school production.
To carry out his nefarious murder plot, Andrew enlists his girlfriend Sasha (Diana Benjamin) to pose as Steve’s physical therapy nurse to infiltrate the home and to carry out the deed. Of course Sasha has to get rid of the existing nurse, Harmony (Hao Dao), first. She does so by lying in wait, then stealing the nurse’s uniform at knifepoint. With few questions asked, Sasha rolls into Steve’s home and instantly begins driving a wedge between the cop and his wife Lexi (Shar Dee). In a gripping scene Steve explains the stakes… “Yeah It’s gonna be about two months before I can go to work. And you know I’m a cop, right?”
With Steven’s wife overwhelmed at work she seems totally oblivious to the way Sasha is taking over the home. If the innuendos weren’t enough upon their first meeting, you would think that finding Steven and Sasha asleep and cuddling on the living room couch might have set off at least one alarm. Instead, nothing. Sasha goes even further. After learning that Steven’s wife can’t have kids, Sasha offers to have their baby. It’s weird but Lexi dismisses the invasive offer by quipping, “Maybe that’s just her way of being polite.” Okay, wasn’t Sasha supposed to be there to kill Steven? There is a small subplot where Sasha begins to have feelings for her hit target, but these are treated with the same mechanical elegance as the other more nuanced moments.
As far as the performances go I am not really sure who to offer notes to. Everyone is in need of some coaching. Lead man Hill, makes another admirable attempt at a staring role but he just can’t seem to loosen up and give in to the role. Dee as Lexi does a so-so job but shined more in her office scenes that the ones of real value. While Benjamin struggles throughout the film I have to admit that she does have a great presence. In all scenes, it feels as if the actors were given the direction, “enter scene, deliver lines, exit.” These are performances focused on line delivery and trying not to look at the camera and it shows.
What makes the film so egregious is that, given the resources, something better should have come from this. The film is competently photographed by Adam Mercante and Dia Taylor. The editing from Carson Sheen is satisfactory. The actors could have even pulled something off had they something to work with. Sadly, I lay the failure that is Bitter Desire at the feet of director Simon Oliver and writer Thomas Bodine. It is clear that the two have a passion for cinema and for a crackling crime thriller. However, they are too enamored with the mood they are reaching for and not how to earn it.
