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What does it take to push an ordinary person over his or her limit?  What does it take to turn an average citizen into a killer? 

Billed as a Hitchcockian thriller with spellbinding twists and turns, Black Wine investigates the questions posed above, but it doesn’t deliver on the promised suspense or emotion.

Ashley and Trevor have it all: talent, success, and a healthy relationship that Trevor wants to take to the next level.  But after a chance encounter with a mugger, Trevor and Ashley now share something more than their love for one another—a deep, dark secret. 

But their relationship and even their sanity begin to deteriorate as Detectives Lane and Abrahms come calling.  Soon Trevor’s fears of conviction evolve into paranoia and his stress leads to violence directed towards the only person that has the ability to threaten his bright future. 

Forced to defend herself against Trevor’s violent attacks, Ashley reacts in a way she never before thought herself capable.  With the detectives closing in, she must think of a fast and gruesome way to get rid of the evidence. 

The long and short of it is, Black Wine isn’t a good movie. 

The plot turns, set up to imitate some of the great stories by Hitchcock, Shakespeare, and Poe, are simply not fulfilling.  Every dark demon lurking around the corner, every ugly action taken by the main characters was telegraphed so far in advance that nothing was shocking. 

The couple, syrupy sweet and perfect in their love at the beginning, took an abrupt turn into madness, especially Trevor.  But perhaps that is to be expected.  As the “man of the house”, the provider and main breadwinner, the male of the species tends to feel the pressure to succeed and the fear of failure much more intensely than his female counterpart.  But this dynamic of their relationship was not explored.  In fact, Trevor’s paranoia seemed too narcissistic and inorganic.  Ashley’s growing insanity is much more believable, especially in the late scenes with the detectives and her pseudo-confession.  But her reluctance to turn herself in immediately and the lengths to which she goes are a leap the filmmaker hasn’t earned.  Unlike Trevor, Ashley’s violence is excusable, legally if not morally.  And, as the more level-headed of the two protagonists, her character would more believably turn herself in than go to the lengths she does. 

Detectives Lane and Abrahms make a great pair and, while wholly unbelievable as homicide detectives, give the film a much-needed dimension, conflict and even a bit of comedy.  But as a matter of plot, the viewer is hard-pressed to buy that two seasoned detectives could get down on their hands and knees and mop up a pool of blood and wine and not notice the blood, no matter where their suspicions lay. 

Technically, Black Wine is on par with its plot and character development:  poor, even for a low-budget independent film.  The color is washed out, flat and uninspiring. The camera angles choices are questionable.  The production design is barren: no homey feel to Trevor and Ashley’s apartment or even the bare necessities.  It doesn’t seem plausible that a happily coupled aspiring artist and a top-of-his-class law student would inhabit such a drab and dreary apartment. 

But if none of the above technical issues could ruin the film for you, the sound design will do the trick.  Filled with static scenes and overlapping dialogue, most likely meant to illustrate the growing pressure and paranoia the characters feel, is sloppily done and overused.  This technique should be used sparsely, to allow the audience to climb further into the character’s head when it’s needed most.  The makers of Black Wine do it to death.  The film even opens with this overlapped sound design as Trevor is debating whether or not to propose. 

Black Wine is disappointing on all fronts: predictable, run-of-the-mill plot, forced characters, boring production design and horrible camera angles and sound design.  Those who will most enjoy this film are those that have never seen a thriller, or for that matter a movie. 

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