Bitter Desire review

By Mark Hockley

Bitter Desire reunites director Simon Oliver with actor Nathan Hill, their first collaboration since the sci-fi oddity Alien Love, and the pairing yields a pulpy, low-budget thriller that leans hard into the spirit of 1990s late-night cable fare. The story follows Steve, a recovering cop confined to his home after being injured during the arrest of a volatile criminal named Andrew. While Steve heals, Andrew seethes in jail and sends his girlfriend, Sasha, to infiltrate Steve’s life under the guise of a home nurse. From there, deception turns into temptation, and Sasha’s mission of revenge becomes tangled with her growing attachment to the man she’s meant to destroy. Steve’s wife, Lexi, quickly senses that something is wrong, especially when Sasha’s caregiving looks more like flirtation. As suspicion builds and loyalties buckle, the film spirals toward a showdown driven by jealousy and betrayal.

The film’s budgetary limits are obvious, yet Oliver compensates with a hazy, dreamlike atmosphere and a willingness to embrace the melodramatic excesses of the genre. Nathan Hill plays Steve as an ordinary man blindsided by extraordinary manipulation, while Diana Benjamin makes Sasha sympathetic even when the script wants her to be a femme fatale. Tass Tokatlidis brings real menace as Andrew, though the story confines him mostly to prison scenes. Shar Dee gives Lexi enough grounding to steady the film whenever it threatens to tilt fully into fantasy.

As an erotic thriller, Bitter Desire is surprisingly tame. It has the shape and setup of something more provocative but rarely commits to the erotic or violent extremes the premise suggests. Still, its retro style, moody score, and unapologetic embrace of pulp make it oddly compelling. It’s the kind of film that doesn’t hold up to logical scrutiny and doesn’t need to; instead, it coasts on atmosphere, tension, and the simple question of who will betray who next.

Despite its flaws, Bitter Desire delivers a fun throwback experience for viewers who enjoy melodrama, revenge plots, and the unmistakable feel of 90s cable noir. It may not be high art, but it’s stylish, earnest, and entertaining enough to suggest it could carve out a small cult following of its own.