BETRAY: THIRST movie review | ©2025 Filmhub

Rating: Not Rated
Stars: Kenon Walker, Everett Anderson, Bre Hassan, Jessica Jai Johnson, Sherika Woodard, Michael Gordon III, Wyndie Oliver, Kenneth Farmer, Zakary Taylor, Amy Taylor, John Dylan Atkins, Chloe Howard, Prince Djae
Writer: Jaron Lockridge
Director: Jaron Lockridge
Distributor: FilmHub
Release Date: May 6, 2025 (digital)

Directed and written by Jaron Lockridge, BETRAY: THIRST could be described as an “erotic thriller,” but it’s a lot more reflective and less soapy than its logline would suggest.

A drama about a married lawyer who has an affair with an also-married client, BETRAY: THIRST contemplates the moral weight of the situation, as well as the reactions of others, in ways that give it dimension.

Jamal (Kenon Walker) and Shavonne Wiggins (Jessica Jai Johnson) seem to be the perfect couple. Married for fifteen years, with a little girl, they are affectionate and rarely argue.

This puts them in stark contrast to Jamal’s best friend/business partner Darren (Everett Anderson) and his wife/Shavonne’s best friend Ebony (Sherika Woodard), both of whom drink a lot and have screaming matches over Ebony’s suspicions about Darren’s fidelity.

There’s also the matter of Darren’s somewhat lackadaisical attitude toward work. Although he and Jamal have spent years building up their suburban Tennessee legal practice, lately Darren has been taking a lot of days off.

For the first half-hour, BETRAY: THIRST is so intent on establishing Jamal’s bona fides as a skilled attorney that it could be mistaken for a legal procedural. Jamal’s approach proves him to be wily yet compassionate.

Darren is supposed to take the case of Jada Campbell (Bre Hassan), but he misses the appointment, so Jamal meets with the potential client. Jada’s husband Xavier (Michael Gordon III) was a firefighter until a ceiling collapsed on his head. This, Jada says, caused seizures, which in turn caused Xavier to have a car accident three years ago that left him paralyzed from the waist down. However, the city insists that Xavier’s seizures have nothing to do with his firefighting injury.

For his part, Xavier wants nothing to do with any sort of legal help and orders Jamal out when the lawyer makes a house call. Xavier also thinks Jada and Jamal lust for each other.

Despite Xavier’s paranoia, he’s onto something here. Jada has had few kind words, much less physical interaction, from her spouse since his accident. Meanwhile, while Jamal tries to oblige Shavonne in every way possible, he has failed to make clear to her how important lovemaking is to him, with the consequence that she doesn’t prioritize it.

Things get steamy and then get thorny. However, BETRAY: THIRST is fairly plausible in its events. Lockridge also comes up with some intentionally humorous dialogue that generates laughs and stages a party scene – featuring the charismatic Prince Djae as himself – with verve.

In some ways, BETRAY: THIRST seems to have the unstated subtext that a marriage where both partners aren’t clear about what they want is a marriage potentially in trouble.

Walker provides BETRAY: THIRST with a sober, serious center. We believe his Jamal is truly torn by his predicament. Hassan makes Jada sympathetic, even though the movie paints her as somewhat villainous, despite the circumstances. It’s unclear if filmmaker Lockridge understands that between Jada and Jamal, she’s the one in a more intractable domestic dilemma; Jamal certainly doesn’t.

Gordon has a stare that convincingly scares another grown man, Johnson radiates warmth, Anderson is believable both as a free-wheeler and a good friend, and Woodard conveys a strong backbone.

BETRAY: THIRST goes for some melodrama, but it is ultimately more thoughtful and effective than many other films in this genre.

Related: Movie Review: THE SURFER
Related: Movie Review: ROSARIO
Related: Movie Review: A DESERT
Related: Movie Review: UNTIL DAWN
Related: Movie Review: THE DEATH OF SNOW WHITE
Related: Movie Review: IT FEEDS
Related: Movie Review: THE KILLGRIN
Related: Movie Review: MOB COPS
Related: Movie Review: SINNERS
Related: Movie Review: THE SHROUDS
Related: Movie Review: THE WEDDING BANQUET
Related: Movie Review: THE UGLY STEPSISTER (DEN STYGGE STESOSTEREN
Related: Movie Review: CALL OF THE VOID
Related: Movie Review: DROP
Related: Movie Review: WARFARE
Related: Movie Review: A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Related: Movie Review: HELL OF A SUMMER
Related: Movie Review: ERIC LARUE
Related: Movie Review: FREAKY TALES
Related: Movie Review: THE LUCKIEST MAN IN AMERICA
Related: Movie Review: A NICE INDIAN BOY
Related: Movie Review: THE WOMAN IN THE YARD
Related: Movie Review: CONTROL FREAK
Related: Movie Review: BLOODY AXE WOUND
Related: Movie Review: LOCKED
Related: Movie Review: MCVEIGH
Related: Movie Review: ASH
Related: Movie Review: BLACK BAG
Related: Movie Review: MICKEY 17

Follow us on Twitter at ASSIGNMENT X
Like us on Facebook at ASSIGNMENT X

Article Source: Assignment X
Article: Movie Review: BETRAY: TRUST

Related Posts: