It’s okay, we don’t know if this is Foreshadowing either.
Deadly Illusions is an American erotic Thriller that premiered on Netflix. It was directed and writen by Anna Elizabeth James and stars Kristin Davis, Greer Grammer and Dermot Mulroney.
A writer named Mary (Davis) is struggling to produce her next work as she’s suffering major writer's block. With this pressure and the added bonus of being married with two kids, she hires a nanny named Grace (Grammer). Only as they grow closer, Mary starts to suspect Grace may not be all she appears to be.
Deadly Illusions contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Grace was abused by her parents as a child, and it's implied that's what had led to her developing a violent case of dissociative identity disorder.
- Ambiguous Ending: The film ends with Mary visiting Grace at a mental hospital. But then when Mary leaves, the scene is shot in the same manner as when Margaret was dressed up as Mary to frame her for killing Elaine, leaving it ambiguous whether that's really Mary or if Margaret killed Mary and disguised as her to escape the facility.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: Grace's large chest is part of the reason she's considered so attractive, with Mary complementing her size when she's trying on bras at a store and later Mary even starts to consider plastic surgery to get a bigger chest.
- Cheating with the Milkman: Mary ends up having an affair with Grace, who is working as a nanny to her kids. One of Mary's Imagine Spot ends up being about her husband and Grace having an affair. But it was actually Margaret who seduced Tom.
- D-Cup Distress: Grace doesn't actually like her big breasts, complaining about them to Mary, saying they're "keep in order". This contrasts to Margaret who is implied to have Big-Breast Pride instead.
- Deadly Bath: Tom is in the shower when Margaret sneaks inside the house to seduce / kill him. He at least manages to get a Modesty Towel around his waist before he can confront her.
- Frame-Up: Margaret kills Elaine and frames Mary for the murder, dressing up as Mary and walking in front of cameras, and also leaving fake evidence at the scene for the police to think Mary was responsible.
- Happily Married: Mary and Tom are a happy couple who are still passionate about each other despite their old age. But Grace's arrival at the house puts their marriage in jeopardy.
- Imagine Spot: Mary is prone to daydreaming, often about being in sexual situations with Grace, and often doesn't realize that what she imagined wasn't real.
- Intimate Lotion Application: When Grace happens to walk into Mary sunbathing at the pool, Mary innocently asks if Grace could help her by putting suntan lotion on her back. Grace obliges, and lathers the lotion on her back in a rather intimate fashion, with Mary enjoying it more than she expected and the scene is used to increase their sexual tension.
- Jekyll & Hyde: Grace has a Split Personality, with "Margaret" being a violent, deranged killer and Grace being a sweet girl.
- Ms. Fanservice: Mary has some revealing outfits but Grace hands down takes the cake, often wearing a mini-skirt.
- Mind Screw: The film's plot becomes more and more confusing as while Mary mentions her mind goes to weird places, a lot of things happen that are acknowledged by other characters or couldn't have happened. Many of the plot points such as Tom's affair with Grace, the sexual tension between her and Mary, how much was Mary having a dark Imagine Spot, the plot of her book or the ending where Mary may or may not have been killed by Margaret raise tons of questions that are almost never answered.
- Psycho Knife Nut: The Ax-Crazy Margaret brings a large knife with her during her last visit at Tony and Mary's house, since he's planning to kill both of them with it.
- The Reveal: Grace turns out to have a Split Personality named Margaret who seduced Mary's husband Tom and plotted to kill Mary for the whole movie despite Grace not wanting it.
- Sexy Surfacing Shot: Just as Elaine and Mary are discussing how attractive Grace is, there's a shot of Grace slowly climbing out of the pool in a swimsuit, as if to emphasize their point.
- Split Personality: Grace actually has dissociative identity disorder, with her other personality, Margaret, being an Ax-Crazy killer.
- Stupid Sexy Flanders: Mary starts having sexual fantasies about Grace, including when she's at a publishing meeting. Her friend thinks it's just her imagining this due to sexual frustration or boredom. It escalates to where the two kiss and Grace even gives her off-screen oral sex.
- Token Black Friend: The black Elaine only exists to be Mary's friend, so Mary has someone to vocalize her troubles and feelings to. She also gets murdered just to raise the film's stakes and establish how dangerous Grace / Margaret actually is.
- Toplessness from the Back:
- When Grace takes off her bra to try on another, the audience only sees her from the back, save for a few Shoulders-Up Nudity shots.
- When Mary is having a sexual fantasy about a nude Grace, Grace has her bare back facing the camera.
- The Vamp: Margaret acts like an aggressive, overt seductress, even when she's planning to kill and harm the people she's seducing. It's implied all the scenes where Grace acts overtly sexual towards Mary to actually be Margaret and not Grace.
- Writer's Block: Mary has a major one, which makes it hard for her to finish her book. The fact that Grace inspires her writing is the initial reason why they grow close.
