Tyler Perry may be best known for creating and portraying the character of Madea, but over the years and through a partnership with Netflix, we’ve seen Perry's films regularly explore genres outside of comedy. His latest film, Mea Culpa, is a legal thriller starring Kelly Rowland and Trevante Rhodes, and it’s available to stream now with a Netflix subscription. Critics had the opportunity to screen the movie ahead of its release, and they are not pulling punches when it comes to Perry’s latest project.
Mea Culpa is centered around defense attorney Mea Harper (Kelly Rowland) who gets too close to her client Zyair Malloy (Trevante Rhodes), who has been accused of murdering his girlfriend. Murtada Elfadl of Variety calls the movie “preposterously delightful,” despite the leads having no chemistry and Tyler Perry giving us an ending so over-the-top and contrived that it doesn’t even resemble real life. It’s a true guilty pleasure, Elfadl says, writing:
Perry knows what he’s doing. He can’t possibly think any of this is believable for one second. But it could be fun to discuss its outlandishness over a few glasses of wine. Tyler Perry’s Mea Culpa isn’t for everyone. In fact, many will write it off as as shlock, and yet, there’s something admirable about a filmmaker who knows exactly what his audience wants. For his loyal base, it will be enough entertainment on a slow night at home.
Kshitij Johari of Spotlight Central says the writing in Mea Culpa gets “absurd,” slapping the audience with five or 10 plot twists that are “neither believable nor logical in any context.” The critic concludes:
The performances are okayish. Trevante Rhodes takes the gold, and not because he has acted very well, but because the limited spectrum of his character lets him stay the same forever. If you want to watch an erotica, you can try finding something somewhere else. (This one will even disappoint the ones watching for the plot). I, personally, cannot recommend this film to anyone because it is wrong with so many elements, and gets unbearable after some time.
Joe Lipsett of Bloody Disgusting rates the Netflix thriller 2.5 skulls out of 5, seeming to fall somewhere in the middle of the above two opinions. Lipsett wishes Tyler Perry embraced the silliness that makes the ending “ludicrous, but enjoyable” more throughout the whole movie. The critic calls the flick “cackle-worthy,” but says its uneven tone ultimately fails it. He writes:
Mea Culpa has a lot going for it: incredible costumes (Rowland’s wardrobe is a dream), a game cast, and a solid, albeit slightly formulaic premise. It is Perry’s uneven handling of tone, as well as the too-long runtime, that lets the film down. It needs to be hotter and more thrilling, or campier and more ridiculous. Tragically it falls somewhere in the middle.
Roger Moore of Movie Nation rates it 1.5 stars out of 4, saying Mea Culpa falls victim to uneven pacing, cartoonish villains and enough plot twists to fill a whole season of a soap opera. Moore writes:
Mea Culpa is the most over-the-top, lurid and hyper-sexualized soap opera Tyler Perry has ever served up. Sure, it’s a thriller, and by the pull-out-all-the-stops finale, it acts like it. But soapy, turgid trash is one of the guy’s brands — when he isn’t playing Madea. And this eye-roller is on-brand, first scene to last.
Sonal Pandya of Times Now gives the movie 1.5 out of 5 stars, calling the plot “outlandish” and the ending “even more ludicrous.” Mea Culpa lacks the fire that Tyler Perry brings to other projects, Pandya says, with Kelly Rowland turning in a disinterested performance. The critic says:
Rowland is also too timid in her portrayal as an in-demand defense attorney, making the story less believable. Mea Culpa also suffers from Perry's input, which is all over the place. He wastes the entire running time of the feature, moving the narrative in one direction and undo it all with a very messy ending. The film becomes disinteresting within minutes of its beginning. This one's a misfire on all counts.
It sounds like Mea Culpa could be bordering on so-bad-it’s-good territory with what the critics all agree is a twisty and ridiculous ending. At least some who screened the movie have found humor and entertainment in it, even if reality must be suspended to do so.
If this is a movie you want to pop on from the comfort of your own home, Mea Culpa is available to stream now on Netflix. Be sure to check out our 2024 movie release calendar to see what’s hitting theaters, and see what else is new and coming soon to Netflix.
