Page 86 - AVN June 2022
P. 86
The marriage of noir and erotic cinema seems like such a naturally simpatico fit, it’s a wonder nobody has dedicated a whole line to it before now. Thanks to Wicked Pictures head of production Axel Braun and illustriously stylistic director James Avalon, the realization of this sublimely but-of-course concept—in the form of the new Wicked Noir banner—kicks off in fantastic fashion with inaugural release Duplicity, a twisty-turny tale of double crossing and deceit with all the markings of genre classics such as Double Indemnity, The Big Sleep and so on: the moody shadows, the simmering jazz score, the affected, barbed dialogue.
The most inspired aspect of Duplicity is its casting—Freya Parker and Evelyn Claire are pitch-perfect molls, with every bit the classical look of noir sirens like Lauren Bacall or Jane Greer. The cinematography is most noteworthy, as well, managing to implement those obligatory shadows just as effectively in the color portions as the black-and- white ones.
DUPLICITY
WICKED NOIR/PULSE DISTRIBUTION
Wicked.com
DIRECTOR: James Avalon
CAST: Freya Parker, Evelyn Claire, Diana Grace, Charles Dera, Jay Romero, Steve Holmes TIME: 125 Min.
CATEGORY: DRAMA
≠ PETER WARREN
86 AVN.COM | 6.22 | EDITOR’S CHOICE
AAAA 1/2
