Fifty Shades Darker (2017)

Yes the Fifty Shades movies are as bad as people say they are and this sequel is worse than the first. Yes there are problems with the plotting, acting, staging, etc. but these problems are common in many movies. Like many franchise films based on properties who have a rabid fan base there is a certain amount of pandering to that audience which takes away from the film's ability to be a good film. But the main problem with Fifty Shades Darker isn't any of the basic problematic elements. It's the very nature of the story itself.

People who know about BDSM will tell you the Fifty Shades series doesn't accurately represent the world of BDSM. It gets that stuff all wrong. In fact, what it does is mistake themes of dominance and submission with what is actually stalking, emotional abuse, and sexual assault. What is represented in these stories, and is sold as romantic titillation, is a series of abuse fantasies. The BDSM communities stress consent but Fifty Shades Darker is a story based on the lack of consent. It's disturbing.

This isn't a situation where a film is exploring the issue of assault/harassment/abuse and it's dark for those reasons. This is a situation where the film is glamorizing it, celebrating it as a form of romance. Christian is an abuser and the audience is gaslighted into falling for him. It's just gross on many levels.

And the sex remains that just hidden enough, and gender imbalanced, soft-core which rings so hollow in this day and age. The film doesn't explore sexuality in an engaging way but with a gaze which commodifies it.

I've heard some critics complain Fifty Shades Darker is even worse than Fifty Shades of Grey but honestly I don't know how you tell at this point, or why you would want to.

Fifty Shades Darker
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Kim Basinger, Marcia Gay Harden
Director: James Foley
Writer: Niall Leonard