The erotic thriller is making a comeback, with the popular genre of the late 1980s and 1990s finding a new home on the small screen.
Recently, we’ve seen TV remakes of iconic films of the genre such as American Gigolo, with more on the way; as I write this, we’re just weeks away from a contemporary take on Fatal Attraction making its debut.
Arriving on Netflix this week is Obsession, adapted from Josephine Hart’s pulpy 1991 novel Damage, which has similarly already found life on the big screen thanks to the steamy 1992 movie starring Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche. With Britain often stereotyped as a prudish nation, that film stands out amongst several Hollywood and European efforts as a rare example of a homegrown erotic thriller – but more than 30 years later, it remains a novelty.
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This is part of what made this new take stand out to stars Richard Armitage and Charlie Murphy, who play the central couple whose affair has disastrous consequences. Armitage plays William Farrow, a happily married family man who finds himself falling for his son’s fiancée Anna (Murphy), with their immediate sexual connection kicking off a devastating chain of events that threatens to tear their family apart.
It’s a story driven by sexual desire, which is depicted in all of its majesty, a novelty for a series originating from a country that can only discuss sex in Carry On-style innuendos. As Armitage explained to Zavvi, this was the central appeal of the project.
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He said: “I remember saying to somebody quite early on that we need to be a bit more French about all of this. They’re very cool and relaxed with how they deal with intimacy in films, they’re not self conscious or hung up, and I’ve always wished we could be like that.
“But when we’re on set filming this, that’s all entirely in the prep. Once the cameras start rolling, it all comes down to trying not to laugh!”
Murphy jokes that the series is arriving right on trend (“we’ve been through the superhero era and the vampire era, now we’re in the erotic era!”), but it isn’t mainly trading in nostalgia. Many of the more famous genre efforts prioritised the depiction of male pleasure over female pleasure, whereas the “power play” here is far more balanced.
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As she told Zavvi: “It’s a fantastic departure from Josephine Hart’s novel, and it’s so well rounded for both male and female characters. The scripts by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm kept a lot of what was described in the book though, and in particular I loved what she did with our very first sex scene.
“There’s only one word said, she remains fully clothed and William strips – it took my breath away, I’d never seen anything like this. It’s the beginning of a great power play between them both.”
That power dynamic is part of what makes the series’ depiction of BDSM so refreshing, especially when placed next to the most famous project to depict kink onscreen: Fifty Shades. Those film adaptations garnered controversy for what some deemed an irresponsible characterisation of a dominant-submissive relationship, ignoring safe words and consent.
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In Obsession, this is all baked into the very idea of William and Anna’s relationship, where the rules are established immediately.
“It’s an interesting conversation I think we have and will continue to have about consent and permission, and what adults can do with each other in a healthy relationship”, Armitage continued. “Although this isn’t a healthy relationship, it all comes crashing down!
“It’s not about pain either, which a lot of screen depictions of BDSM are. I think this is about yielding to somebody, which is quite refreshing: that thrill of allowing yourself to be guided by somebody else.
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“And in this case, it’s the male character, which I think in William’s life certainly is unusual. So I think that part of the fascination he has for her is that he feels completely able to submit.”
You may now be wondering: if their sexual fantasies are being fulfilled, are we to root for them to split from their partners and shack up together? Well, not exactly, as Obsession is equally well rounded when it comes to bringing to life Richard’s wife Ingrid (Indira Varma) and son Jay (Ms Marvel star Rish Shah), refusing to simply characterise them as scorned lovers.
In fact, the screenwriters went to great pains to stress that both parties in the affair had no intention of straying prior to their first meeting, adding a new layer of complexity to the relationship dynamics.
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As Varma put it to Zavvi: “We wanted Ingrid and William to still have a sex life, so that it wasn’t that whole thing of “oh, he’s not getting any”. It had to be a bit more complex than that.
“As actors, we had to consider what that sex life would be like, and if it wasn’t so bad, what was making him uncomfortable? Was it the familiarity that he doesn’t necessarily have with someone he’s just met?
“Now that we have intimacy coordinators on set, it makes it a bit safer to explore themes relating to those power dynamics. In fact, that’s probably why the British feel more comfortable doing it now!”
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Varma and Shah may not be seen getting steamy onscreen as much as the actors playing their romantic counterparts, but the brief moments working with those coordinators proved to be an insightful way of helping to further understand the cracks appearing to show in their characters’ respective relationships.
Shah said: “I only have one scene, so it wasn’t something I had to think about too much – he’s so out of the loop with what’s really going on, so I didn’t need to consider it, it felt like a side part of my story and my process on this project.
“But every time I was working with that lady, it was so helpful. In the moment, I felt like I needed this on every set!”
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When Varma sat down to watch the first episode, she was surprised by how much she was captivated by William and Anna’s relationship, even as it meant her character was being cheated on – something she hopes will prove infectious to other viewers.
“Watching that first episode was so thrilling. It was honestly like a rollercoaster, hoping for something to happen, seeing that charge play out, then begging them both not to do it. Do they not know what they’re both losing?!?”
It’s safe to say that many audiences will be shouting at their TV in the same way this week as Obsession arrives on our screens.
Obsession premieres on Netflix on Thursday, 13th April.
