Sensual thrillers are difficult to write because the thriller element of the story disrupts the flow of the erotic element. Like in the film Basic Instinct and other films of a similar nature, the two must be intertwined for both components to work well together. Oh, and the sex must truly appear seductive. A new Brazilian Netflix original series seeks to achieve this balance. Can it stay seductive while attempting to resolve its primary enigma?
LADY VOYEUR: TO STREAM OR NOT TO STREAM?
Opening Shot: “DECEMBER 31.” A woman with a drink in hand stands on her balcony and begins speaking on her phone.
Miranda (Débora Nascimento) records voice memos frequently as a means of archiving moments of her life so she can recollect them if Huntington’s Disease, which is robbing her grandmother of her memory, begins to impact her. She laments falling in love with two guys, one of whom is now deceased. This is her fault. Then, someone enters her flat in secret, approaches her from behind, and begins to strangle her.
Rewind three months to October 1st. Miranda possesses her computer equipment and a zoom camera at her apartment. She is a hacker who assists businesses in securing their weaknesses, and she is a bit of a loner. She enjoys observing Cléo (Emanuelle Arajo), a sex prostitute who resides in the adjacent building, engage with her clients. A fresh one appears rigid and disinterested in engaging in much activity with Cléo. On Fridays, however… well, on Fridays, a sexy customer arrives, he and Cléo engage in mind-blowing sex, and Miranda is free to observe the entire event.
Miranda and Cléo have a casual acquaintance, so Cléo asks Miranda to watch her dog while she spends the night in a posh hotel entertaining the billionaire customer Miranda dislikes. Miranda adores the opportunity to experience Cléo’s life vicariously; she dons Cléo’s clothes, her cosmetics, and one of her wigs.
But then, Fernando (Nikolas Antunes), the sexy customer, knocks on the door, even though it is not Friday. Miranda does not object to his attention, and they have some of Miranda’s most satisfying sexual experiences. After he departs, though, another client of Cléo’s arrives and forces himself on Miranda, despite her objections. Fernando, who forgot his wallet, returns to the flat just as Miranda throws the other client to the floor in the toilet, accidentally killing him from a head injury.
Meanwhile, Cléo is ready to have sex with her high-priced client Heitor (ngelo Rodrigues) when Heitor’s wife Diana (Gabriela Moreya) barges in; it’s the last straw for the marriage, but Diana tells Heitor that she’ll obtain custody of their daughter Luisa (Duda Pimenta).
The following day, when Fernando disposes of Cléo’s body with the assistance of Miranda, who deletes video evidence of their presence from the building’s security system, he asks her to help him expose a sex trafficking organization managed by his wealthy billionaire brother-in-law, Heitor.
What Shows Does It Bring to Mind? Lady Voyeur (Original title: Olhar Indiscreto) is reminiscent of several other series and films, such as Sex/Life, Body Heat, Fifty Shades of Grey, and Sex, Lies, and Videotape.
It is extremely challenging for screenwriters and directors to blend the “erotic” and “thriller” components of the erotic thriller genre. When we initially began to watch Lady Voyeur, we believed that the writers Marcela Citterio and Camila Raffanti had the balance under control. The first twenty minutes or so of the program included some of the sexiest scenes we’ve seen on film in quite some time, despite some of the story’s eye-rolling elements. The sex sequences, which feature several close-ups of clavicles and other parts of skin, are constructed slowly and do not just depict performers going through the motions.
We are not really sure why Miranda seemed pleased to live vicariously through Cléo. Some flashbacks hint that her mother’s death, which occurred when she was a child, had something to do with a bad actor in her mother’s life; all we see is her elder sister telling Miranda that she is responsible for their mother’s death.
With the exception of her ability to get into Cléo’s security cameras, the fact that she is a hacker first appears to be fairly inconsequential. However, Cléo also keeps her window blinds open, making her a rather open book. However, Miranda’s powers will be utilized as the story progresses.
When the plot abruptly shifts from “sexy hacker enjoying sex” to “sexy hacker inadvertently killing a guy and sexy new boyfriend asking her to help break a sex trafficking ring,” we begin to lose interest in the show. Have we shifted from an erotic thriller to a conventional one? It seems certain that Miranda will also fall in love with Heitor, but will it result in many more close-ups of clavicles? It is tough to say. There is also a feeling that Fernando’s off-day visit was not entirely coincidental, thus there is an entire conspiracy aspect that must be investigated.
It simply feels as though the tone switched so abruptly and in such an odd manner that we began to question whether the show will ever be able to regain the proper equilibrium in the future.
Yes, there is an abundance of both in this presentation.
Back to New Year’s Eve for the closing shot. As Miranda struggles against the man who is choking her, she begins to lose consciousness, and he tosses her over the balcony.
Sleeper Star: Ingrid Klug plays Miranda’s BFF Rita. She appears in only one scene, but her depiction of washing machine sex is rather memorable.
Most Pilot-like Phrase: How do we know that Miranda is a hacker? She has two monitors, one of which contains windows with code that has little or no relevance to what she is doing.
Our Request: STREAM IT. We hope that the sensuality of the first episode of Lady Voyeur will continue throughout the rest of the series. We are unsure, though, if this will continue for the remainder of the season.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes on cuisine, entertainment, parenting, and technology, but he’s not going to lie: he’s a TV addict. His work has been published in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, and Fast Company, among other publications.