Horror fan favourite Jessica Rothe returns to the genre – sadly not for Happy Death Day 3 – but for writer-director BT Meza’s sci-fi thriller Affection, a film that opens with a wonderfully intriguing mystery before sadly losing its way once the truth begins to unfold.
The story begins with Rothe’s character, Allie, lying injured and distressed on the ground. From the very first scene, Meza plants a seed of doubt in the audience’s mind that something isn’t quite right. When Allie awakens, she discovers she is married to Bruce (Joseph Cross), a man she doesn’t recognise, and has a daughter, Alice (Julianna Layne), whom she has no memory of giving birth to. In fact, Allie believes her name is Sarah and vividly remembers an entirely different family from the one now standing before her. Bruce insists otherwise.
The accident has left Allie with severe memory loss, her mind seemingly resetting time and again, causing her to forget the people closest to her. But is Bruce telling the truth? Or should she trust the lingering memories that refuse to disappear? It’s a compelling mystery that makes Affection genuinely absorbing throughout its opening act.
Unfortunately, once Meza reveals his hand far earlier than expected, the film shifts into a far more familiar sci-fi trope. It’s a change that will either win audiences over or leave them frustrated by the direction the story ultimately takes.
Even so, Affection remains a worthwhile watch.
As always, Jessica Rothe lights up every scene she appears in, once again proving she deserves another major leading role outside the Happy Death Day franchise. Meza also sprinkles in touches of David Cronenberg-inspired body horror, offering enough unsettling imagery to satisfy fans craving old-school sci-fi horror. Joseph Cross is equally impressive, embracing the film’s darker moments with obvious relish and delivering one of the strongest performances in the cast.
While Affection ultimately feels like a film bursting with ideas that never quite reach their full potential, it still showcases enough ambition to suggest BT Meza has an exciting future ahead of him. There will undoubtedly be viewers who embrace its bold concepts more wholeheartedly than I did, but for me, despite its intriguing premise and strong performances, Affection never quite fulfils the promise of its excellent opening.
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