A series that just arrived on Netflix this week is not going down well with critics, because the Italian reboot Adulterous Love fails in one respect in particular.
The movie hit 365 Days already proved that forbidden relationships under the Italian sun work well on Netflix. Since October 9, 2024, streaming audiences can immerse themselves in a new passion: the erotic thriller Deceitful Love, which, however, is criticized in many reviews for being merciless to one thing.
Betrügerische Liebe on Netflix is the remake of a British series
The Italian original title of the Netflix series is Inganno, which simply means “deception”. Consequently, this question is the focus of the narrative: When wealthy hotel owner Gabriella (Monica Guerritore) falls in love with Elia (Giacomo Gianniotti from Grey’s Anatomy), who is 30 years younger than her, she believes she has found true love. However, her three children, who are the same age as Elia, suspect that their mother’s new boyfriend is really only interested in their family because he wants to get his hands on Gabriella’s fortune.
Fraudulent Love, with this story, is remaking another series that came out five years ago: Gold Digger, starring Julia Ormond and Ben Barnes. You can currently stream the original British series by Marnie Dickens on Magenta TV to see if it’s better than the remake. That’s because international critics aren’t finding much to like about the new Netflix series from Italy at the moment.
Fraudulent Love: The Netflix series doesn’t fare well in reviews
While the larger papers refrain from reviewing Fraudulent Love altogether, the smaller reporters summarize the mood well. The Feast of Legends, for example, calls Fraudulent Love a “bland adaptation”:
Fraudulent Love tells a story that few want to tell. […] But you wish there was more to drive the story forward. It takes too long before things finally get interesting.
Midgard Time finds even harsher words for the new Netflix release:
Everything is designed to be stupid, trashy and provocative. […] The attempt to touch on something profound and traumatic is exceptionally uninteresting […] and feels fake and unconvincing. – Bore me to tears!
Leisure Byte sums up the erotic thriller as “absolutely outrageous, completely insane”:
The Italian series is not like its British predecessor and makes an unhealthy amount of drama the centerpiece of something that is supposed to look serious and introspective. […] In the end, this insane ride turns into soap opera chaos, extinguishing its thriller vibe and sexual energy and leaving us with many unanswered questions.
The German site Film-Rezensionen also condemns Cheating on Love as “involuntarily funny” and an “ugly crisis in a luxury setting”:
Over-the-top, dull and exhausting: the series doesn’t actually care whether it is credible or at least possible in any way […] instead of actually dealing with the question of whether a love with such a difference in age has a realistic chance.
So the critics seem to agree that not only does Deceitful Love fail to convincingly convey the relationship between the main characters, but the Netflix series is also simply boring in the way it is structured and the way its twists unfold. And is there a more deadly verdict than to call a passionate thriller romance dull?
