Bound by Blackmail (2022 TV Movie) User Reviews

Taking Initiative

[lavatch · 5/10 · 6 January 2023]

"Bound by Blackmail" had a strong central character in Nicole, who is adjusting to life without her daughter Ari, who has just left home for college. But when Nicole signs on for a seminar at a self-help organization named Initiative, she soon discovers that it is a dangerous cult.

A problem with the film was the clumsy plotting that saw Nicole returning time and again to the Initiative headquarters. She was placing her life and that of others in danger by her reckless "initiative" to discover evidence to bring down the group and its two weird leaders, the brothers Ken and Justin.

The brothers were especially creepy, and much of the action hinges on which one of the two has turned Initiative into a kind of prison for the participants, who are being recorded and blackmailed into remaining in the group and scrubbing floors. Nicole's friend Diana, who introduced her to Initiative in the first place, is yet another strange figure, who is appears utterly naive about the workings of the organization. Or, is she?

There was an over-the-top approach to various scenes that produced an unintended comical effect. The struggle in the bathroom fogged up by the hot water from the shower was nearly farcical. And the fight of the two brothers took on epic proportions of the struggle of Cain and Abel.

While there was good entertainment value in this film, the credibility was stretched beyond the pale in (a) the crooked cop who was a true believer and (b) in the strong-willed women clients who were cowed into submission by a couple of oily con-artists.

Better than anticipated...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 20 November 2022]

When I stumbled upon the 2022 thriller "Bound by Blackmail", I have to admit that I was expecting it to be another one of those a-dime-a-dozen type of thrillers made for TV. But still, since I had never seen or heard about the movie, of course I opted to give it a go.

And I will say that writer Corey Shurge actually managed to put together a script and storyline that was surprisingly entertaining. Yeah, it was pretty much your standard TV thriller, but there was still something enjoyable about it. And I do like the twist to the storyline; I certainly hadn't figured that one out as director Danny Buday sprang it on the audience.

The acting performances in "Bound by Blackmail" were good for a movie of this type. I wasn't overly familiar with the cast ensemble here, and I enjoy that when I watch a movie. There was a face or two on the screen that I recognized from other movies, but not any names that I were familiar with.

There were two scenes that involved steam, well something that was supposed to be steam. That was just so poorly done and it was cringeworthy to witness on the screen.

If you enjoy TV thrillers then you should give "Bound by Blackmail" a chance. I was genuinely entertained by what writer Corey Shurge and director Danny Buday had to offer. However, this is hardly a movie that warrants more than a single viewing.

My rating of "Bound by Blackmail" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Dumb

[pumping_iron-1 · 1/10 · 12 May 2022]

Nicole was dumb. She tells the company she's secretly investigating that she'd investigating them. Also, anyone with half a brain could see that Diana was brainwashed, yet she trusts her. If I knew a cop was dirty and he threatened me, I'd tell every cop about him, his boss and all the way up the hierarchy. She doesn't. She knows these people have killed two people and tried to kill her, yet she returns to the company not once but twice under the pretense that she has changed her mind and wants to take the program, and they are suppose to believe that she is no longer investigating them. Then she leaves her daughter at the house alone knowing these folks are after her and will do whatever they need to do to make her disappear. The only smart thing she did in the entire movie is to keep one drive for evidence before giving the drives to Diana. Ho! Hum!

Good movie! But it left me with a lot of questions.

[lmnclips2 · 9/10 · 15 December 2022]

This was a good enough film with an original plot and good soundtrack. But there were so many part's that left me with more questions than answers.

1. What happened to The Initiative place after Justin and Detective Hale were arrested? Did it get shut down? Did Ken continue to run it? We're only told by Nicole that the doctors were going to take care of Ken.

2. It's unclear what happened to Diana, as she was not shown being taken away in handcuffs by the police. However, the very last scene of the film showed someone watching Nicole and Ari from the bushes, possibly implying that Diana escaped after being knocked out. But there would've been a scene where the mother and daughter duo go back to the bathroom to discover her missing.

3. What happened to Megan? The girl that was blackmailed into staying at The Initiative. After it was revealed that it was Diana who told her to send Nicole to the sauna and not Ken. We never see her again. Like that's literally the last we see, or hear of her. It's also possible that if Initiative did shut down, then that meant she finally quit, and didn't have to put up with Justin and Diana's blackmail. But an explanation of what happened to Megan would've been nice.

Other points/plot holes/goofs/continuity errors

1. When Phyllis is being killed by the masked attacker, we hear a crack sound, possibly indicating that her neck was snapped. But I don't think Diana would've gotten away with staging her death as an overdose, as the cops would've known that her neck was broken. But it's possible that since Detective Hale was in on it (which was revealed later on), he probably covered it up to avoid arousing suspicion to Nicole.

2. What was the thing that the masked attacker had in their hand when they were about to kill Nicole in the sauna? It looked like some kind of ladle, but it caused more steam to enter the room.

3. At some points in the movie, a tiny microphone could be seen on some of the characters costumes, and that really distracted me. They could've at least put in the effort to keep them hidden.

4. When Robyn is trapped in the garage, and presses the buttons to the garage door, it appears that she doesn't actually press them.

5. The plot twist halfway through that the detective was one of The Initiative's members, really surprised me, and I didn't see it coming. So I'll give them credit for that.

6. I wonder how long it took for Nicole to get to her house after she pepper sprayed Hale? One of the scenes showed a tunnel so she had to run through that too?

7. The mysterious voice on the other end of the line sounded a lot like Diana. So that kind of foreshadowed that she was one of the villains.

8. After Diana was revealed as one of the villains, Nicole calls her daughter on her phone, only for Diana to answer, indicating that she took Ari's phone, but when the mother and daughter duo run to the bathroom to hide, Ari's phone could be seen in her back pocket, and she later uses it to call the police.

9. In the climax when Diana shot Ken. There is no gunfire, But when the gun goes off the third time when Diana and Ari are fighting over it, there is gunfire.

10. When Justin and Ken are tackling each other, it appears as if Justin is about to punch Ken the the stomach but the next shot shows Ken punching Justin in the stomach.

Other than the unanswered questions, plot holes, goofs, and the annoying country music that played during the arrest scene. I really thought this was a good film, and I really did believe that Ken was the one blackmailing the members into staying until it was revealed otherwise. And I love watching Ashlynn Yennie in these flicks. Though It's a shame that her character dies 12 minutes into the movie, so she doesn't get much screen time. I've also seen the lead actresses Jade Harlow (Nicole) and Diora Baird (Diana) in previous LMN movies over the past few years but with different hairstyles (The last movie I saw Jade in, she had longer hair). The only other movie I saw the Ken actor in was this one where he played a boss taking advantage of his au pair. But unlike this movie, he actually was the bad guy in that one.

Overall this feels like a breath of fresh air from all the low quality movies that LMN seems to be churning out lately.

So fresh

[nbyndhqp · 10/10 · 9 May 2022]

This is great ! I love the acting and the girl went into the sauna with a full outfit on great attention too detail. Also that was a steam room and the weird dude throwing more water on the rocks was so creative.