Two names you likely never expected to see sharing a production credit—melodrama mogul Tyler Perry and horror kingpin Jason Blum—have joined forces for Strung. It’s a twisted psychological thriller now streaming on Peacock. I braved the madness so you don’t have to. And the verdict is in: this movie is an absolute orchestra of chaos.
Classic Thriller Fodder
The setup is classic thriller fodder. Chloe Bailey stars as a talented violinist hired by a formidable grandmother (Lynn Whitfield) to be the live-in tutor for a young girl (Romy Woods). The red flags start waving the second Chloe unpacks her bags at the family mansion. She realizes she’s already had a one-night stand with the girl’s stepfather (Lucien Laviscount). Add in a heavily pregnant mother (Coco Jones) radiating pure, unhinged energy right off the bat, and you have a recipe for disaster.
Naturally, it doesn’t take long for Chloe and the dad to rekindle their illicit flame. But wait—it’s a trap! In a twist that feels plucked straight from a daytime soap opera, it’s revealed that the stepdad and grandmother are actually conspiring to murder both the tutor and the little girl. Why? To steal a massive trust fund left behind by the child’s late rapper father. The movie attempts to ground itself with some genuinely touching bonding moments between Chloe and her young student. However, every single interaction with the rest of the family is just bafflingly bizarre. By the time Chloe decides she isn’t going down without a fight, the movie has already completely derailed.
Problems
The biggest hurdle Strung faces is a massive believability problem. The film suffers under the weight of its own awkwardness. It asks the audience to believe that Chloe’s character is entirely blind to a mansion practically constructed out of red flags.
Furthermore, the movie suffers from a severe identity crisis. Tyler Perry is famous for his distinct cinematic flavor—and Lynn Whitfield is a veteran of his universe—but this film lacks that specific je ne sais quoi. Simultaneously, it doesn’t feel like a Blumhouse horror movie either. Director Malcolm D. Lee is at the helm, but the marketing screams Tyler Perry’s name. As someone who has watched every single one of Perry’s films and plays, I can confidently say this is not his style, leaving me to suspect he was far less involved than the poster suggests.
Then, there is the sex problem. While you might expect a thriller about a scandalous affair to feature some steaminess, Strung opts for pure awkwardness. The intimate scenes, and there are a lot, are wildly gratuitous and linger for far too long. The movie beats you over the head with the fact that the dad cannot keep it in his pants. But the film truly crosses the line into “too much information” territory when it decides to showcase the grandmother’s sex life. Trust me: we did not need to see all of that.
The Verdict
While the actors did a perfectly fine job with the material they were given, unfortunately, their performances couldn’t save a movie that felt inherently ridiculous and fundamentally lacking. Ultimately, Strung tries to play too many different tunes at once and ends up completely flat. As a viewer and fan of Perry and Blum, I was definitely let down by this kinky mess. But hey, don’t just take my word for it—you can judge the chaos for yourself. It is streaming now on Peacock.
