Illicit Content (2025) Review
Alyssa (Clair Gleave), an up-and-coming Only Fans star, conspires to blackmail her controlling boyfriend, played by William Frazer with disastrous consequences. From writer-director Chris Tolley in his feature debut, this British neo-noir thriller looks to combine the erotic intrigue of classic thrillers with a modern Only Fans twist.
There is a whiff of the early Eighties Kathleen Turner/William Hurt sexual thriller BODY HEAT about ILLICIT CONTENT and whilst it lacks both the heat or class of Lawrence Kasdan’s directorial debut everyone gives her it their best shot. It is a film of two halves, the first half is hard going, the dialogue is weak, for example all argumentative exchanges between Alyssa and her boyfriend consist solely of saying ‘F*** You!’ to each other, which quickly becomes very tiresome. It also fails to deliver the goods as an erotic thriller, there is no sexual heat, and it is oddly coy about living up to its title of ‘illicit content.’
Budgetary limitations are all too apparent and not worked around, so any scenes set at the gym or the restaurant lack realness simply because of the lack of extra bodies in frame or as background. The three central characters give it their all but there is no chemistry and no eroticism, although William Frazer does give off a sexual charge as Alyssa’s asshole of a boyfriend. What saves ILLICIT CONTENT is its second half. The writing improves, the static pacing of the first half makes way for a more up-tempo groove, and it ends up being more fun than you would have expected from its initial and frankly rather dull set-up.
TRAILER
Illicit Content (2025) | Official Trailer (PG) – YouTube
Illicit Content is on UK digital 13 October (Miracle Media)