Deceitful Love Review: A mature and extremely wealthy woman begins a relationship with a young man who is the age of her youngest child, leading her to feel revitalized and experience love again. This drama portrays a May-December romance that brings a woman’s family to the brink of collapse.
Introduction
A magnificent hotel located on the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast, which has been left vacant awaiting renovation for the next travel season. Its owner, who recently turned 60 and is divorced, spends most of her time alone. However, when a young man arrives there and attraction develops between them, her life takes a fresh turn. But her three children, for different reasons, are completely skeptical of the young man. They are convinced by his vague and suspicious demeanor that he is a fraud.
The woman must choose between her love for her children and the joy of a new life, leading to a battle of affection that will unveil the misleading quest for truth hidden in love. Who is this man really? Has he come for true love, or is he a con artist? Directed by Pappi Corsicato (“The Temptation”), this Italian series “Deceitful Love” stars Monica Guerritore and Giacomo Gianotti.
Deceitful Love Review
In Netflix’s latest Italian series, a mysterious atmosphere looms as Elia and Gabriella enter each other’s lives. It’s clear that everyone has secrets, and the series quickly shows its interest in exploring this age-gap relationship closely and personally.
From the outset, it’s quite creepy to see how persistent Elia is in pursuing a relationship with Gabriella. Gabriella is alone and a bit sad, with no one to share her life with, and her adult children surround her. Her life at the hotel on the Amalfi Coast clearly evokes a sense of sympathy in the audience. Unfortunately, Elia’s presence is mysterious and unsettling, yet one can understand why Gabriella is quickly drawn to his charm.
The creators have ensured that Elia is attractive—he constantly strips down and revels in his physique, enjoying his underwear and six-pack to the extent that the frequency becomes a bit uncomfortable for viewers. Aside from the sex, it’s not hard to think about why every family member is obsessed with Elia. From the youngest son to the mother, everyone is attracted to the mysterious and possibly criminal Elia, and we can only speculate what in Gabriella’s past compels her to ignore the red flags around him.
Keeping the disdainful and controlling sons at bay, it’s clear that something isn’t right with this visitor, and the series forces us to work out the mystery behind everyone’s odd behavior. I think the series presents a significant point between Gabriella’s hysteria and her children’s indifference toward older women dating younger men in society.
Deceitful Love Synopsis
The story begins with Gabriella (Monica Guerritore), who is the owner of a hotel by the sea. We first see her in a wedding dress, and her daughter Julia (Dharmma Mangia Woods) reassures her that she deserves all the love and affection for this wedding, just like a young bride. But when her credit cards get blocked, she turns to her eldest son Stefano (Emanuele Caserio), who tells her that he has frozen her assets until the legal proceedings regarding the “exploitation of a vulnerable person” are completed.
A few months earlier, the elegant Gabriella had called her family to the hotel’s private apartment for her 60th birthday. While looking out at the water, she spots a young man jumping naked from a pier into the sea.
After a disappointing meeting with her adult sons—she also has a teenage son, Nico (Francesco Del Gaudio), who lives with them—she goes out for a walk and sees the young man Elia (Giacomo Gianotti), whose car has broken down. She offers him her phone and a place to take shelter from the rain. Immediately, a special connection is felt between them, but Gabriella is not fully ready to accept it because of the significant age difference. She lends him a T-shirt with her youngest son’s band, Sex Pistols, on it.
Later, Nico, who has met Elia once at a bar, asks about the T-shirt without knowing it belongs to Gabriella. Elia also does not know who Nico is and kisses him to fulfill a bet made by Nico’s friends.
During another walk, Gabriella sees Elia arguing with a mechanic about fixing his car. That encounter ends with a passionate kiss. Then Elia, who always behaves like a free spirit, pulls Gabriella into a neighbor’s pool while they are searching for her dog.
He is definitely mysterious; he bought the boat on the day he arrived at the coast. And the more Gabriella tries to deny his attention, the more she feels like an object of desire for the first time in a long time. After several encounters, she introduces Elia to her family; immediately, Stefano is skeptical of Elia’s intentions
Deceitful Love Cast
- Monica Guerritore as Gabriella, the owner of a hotel
- Giacomo Gianotti as Elia, Gabriella’s lover
- Emanuele Caserio as Stefano, Gabriella’s son
- Denis Capezza as Marina, Elia’s ex-girlfriend
- Dharmma Mangia Woods as Julia, Gabriella’s daughter
- Francesco Del Gaudio as Nico, Gabriella’s son
- Jeppy Gleizes as Mario, Gabriella’s ex-husband
Deceitful Love: A Tale of Rediscovery Amidst Drama and Desire
Deceitful Love has a lot of sex, a lot of creepy music, and a lot of dramatic performances. Is it good drama? It’s a story about a woman who, due to the attention of a mysterious young man, is rediscovering her sexual identity. Her family disapproves of this relationship, and not much is known about the man.
The rest of the cast, including Gianotti as Elia, doesn’t particularly impress us. The show is so filled with drama that we find ourselves just waiting for the next beautifully shot sex scene, not paying much attention to the predictable story between those scenes.
Deceitful Love: A Modern Harlequin Novel
What shows will this remind you of? Deceitful Love is almost like a Harlequin novel brought to life on screen, reminiscent of a mix between Desperate Housewives and a Danielle Steel miniseries. It is a remake of the 2019 British series Gold Digger.
Conclusion
That said, Deceitful Love doesn’t offer anything particularly new with its sensitive relationships or mysterious plot. The on-again, off-again relationship between Gabriella and Elia is incredibly frustrating—we constantly jump from her hating him to loving him and then hating him again. It becomes a bit tiresome, and Elia’s distant and slightly disillusioned expression quickly wears thin.
The problem, personally, revolves around Gabriella. This Italian series does not measure up to its British predecessor and relies on an unhealthy amount of drama to appear serious or self-reflective. It has many inconsistencies, and its twists and turns feel absurd and incomplete.
By the end of this crazy journey, the Italian series devolves into a soap opera and dramatic mess. While it starts with an exciting atmosphere and a lot of sexual energy, it ultimately wraps up quickly, leaving us with numerous unanswered questions.