Borderline Review – Entertaining Dark Comedy Delivers Surprises, Strong Performances
- Details
- Category: Haute This Issue
- Published on Wednesday, 27 August 2025 12:57
- Written by Janet Walker
Borderline, from The Movie Partnership, brings to the screen a dark dramatic comedy as a dangerous celebrity stalker with wit, charm, and a borderline personality disorder breaks into the home of the pop-star with delusions of marriage.
The film begins with Bell, played by Eric Dane, the security guard for pop singing sensation Sofia, played by Samar Weaving, answering the door at her Beverly Hills mansion, to find the known stalker, Paul, played by Ray Nicholson.
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Paul presents a charming, enamored fan, who is head over heels in love with Sofia, and once again he is at her home with a rose and a proposal. Bell tries to explain she is not here, and Paul becomes overly charming and lost in his fantasy and proposes to Bell, who allows him to get close, instead of strongarming him off the property. Suddenly, Paul, who is on one knee in an apparent attempt at traditionalism, jumps up and knifes Bell, who is left in the driveway critically wounded.
Borderline then jumps ahead and we meet Abby, played by Yasmeen Kelders, Bell's daughter who is sitting on the roof watching another glorious LA sunset, with Bell, who survived the attack. We understand from their conversation that Bell has been recuperating, and Abby doesn't want him to return to work.
This is when we meet Sofia, and as we walk with her through her home, we see is quite successful, with Gold Records on the wall of her studio, and tonight's boy toy is pro-baller Rhoads, played by Jimmie Fails, and we see them making video's of each other, using interviewing and recording sessions as a means to remember. They are living the dream, out late, up late, the life of the young and fabulous.
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When they return, the find out Paul has escaped from the mental hospital. This ushers in the second act. As everyone knows he will return to Sofia's house, even with the added security measures. This time he has accomplishes who will help him make his fantasy a reality. By the time they arrive in LA, Eleanor, Abby's Aunt, played by Catherine Lough Hggquist, telephones Bell who is at Sofia's explaining there is a strange man outside the house. This lures him from Sofia's.
Paul has escaped with Penny, played by Alba Baptista, who is cute, French, bubbly, alluring, and as soon we find out more loony than Paul. Along with Paul's cousin, J.H. Calhoun, played by Patrick Cox, the three of them are on a quest and before the night is finished, Paul will finally have his bride.
This leads to the climatic third act, which is when we begin to see that sometimes the most dangerous animals lure you with beauty or charm. This sets off a violent confrontation between Sofia, who is attempting to fight off Paul who has gained access to her home. She obviously loses, and he locks her into her studio as he prepares for the wedding.
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Borderline turns increasingly dark, as Penny attempts to force Sofia into singing a duet, and we hear this powerhouse voice coming from a hands down psychopath, which presents another dichotomy. Throughout this time Calhoun has kidnapped Bell and his family and are taking them back to Sofia's.
This ushers in the final, climatic, and shocking ending.
A bubble-gum and popcorn dark entertaining dramady, Borderline mixes murder, mayhem, dark and dangerous, with comedy and subtle diversions to build this engaging, albeit shocking, and in some cases all to true account of celebrity stalking and delusional fans.
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Borderline pulls the viewer in from the beginning and keeps the audience guessing, as obviously in movies, the bad guys lose and the good guys win, but in Borderline, we are unsure until the very end as the plot has so many twists and turns, which I guess, are meant to represent the delusion mind.
Ray Nicholson, the grandson of screen legend Jack Nicholson, leads a strong cast, including Eric Dane, Samara Weaving, Alba Baptista, and Jimmie Fails, with his performance as a clinically diagnosed deranged celebrity stalker. Of course, we expect Nicholson to embody the crazy character effortlessly, and it is easy to see his grandfather's most iconic performances throughout the film.
Borderline will be available for digital download in the UK, beginning September 8, on iTunes, Amazon, Google, Rakuten & Sky Store. See it.
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Country: UK.
Language: English.
Running Time: 94 mins
Directed by: Jimmy Warden.
Executive Producer: Colleen Camp, Andrew Chang-Sand, John Hills, Petra Holtorf-Stratton, Jameson Parker, Margot Robbie, William G. Santor, Mimi Steinbauer, Shawn Williamson.
Producer: Hadeel Reda, Josey McNamara, Brian Diffield, Tom Ackerley.
Writer: Jimmy Warden.
Cast: Samara Weaving, Ray Nicholson, Eric Dane, Jimmie Fails, Alba Baptista, Patrick Cox, Yasmeen Kelders, Catherine Lough Hggquist, Terence Kelly, April Cameron, Matthew Del Bel Belluz, Chris Shields.
Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade. A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays, "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has completed the non-fiction narrative, "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," and "Days, Times, Seasons, Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," are available on Amazon. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.
