Netflix’s ‘Mea Culpa’ by writer, director, and producer Tyler Perry, is steeped in all the goodness of a legal thriller along with a good helping of drama and erotica. The narrative is packed with conspiracy and deceitful tactics, pushed forward by unforeseen interconnections and outcomes. The film follows Mea Harper, played by Kelly Rowland, a defense attorney coaxed into taking a high-profile case involving an artist, Zyair Malloy, who is accused of murdering his girlfriend. As Harper digs deeper into the truth, she struggles with the challenges of an unstable marriage and the attraction towards her client.
Zyair’s girlfriend in question is Hydie, but initially, viewers are not introduced to her, as the movie begins with Zyair already being accused of killing her. This brings up the question of what really happened to Hydie. Did Zyair really kill her? To figure this out, we must dig a little deeper. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Zyair Is An Innocent Man
It is depicted towards the end of the film that Zyair did not kill Hydie. Although the film presents Zyair Malloy as a deceitful womanizer, he incidentally never harmed Hydie. The film progressively makes it harder for the viewers not to suspect that he killed her, yet the reality remains. When Mea takes up Zyair’s case, several key elements are announced in his profile. Zyair is known to be a womanizer who has had numerous relations. However, Zyair ends up being an innocent man after all when an ultimate secret is revealed in the end.
When the movie starts, people already know about his case and what he did. His actions have angered some people who want him to be punished. They, too, know of his promiscuous deeds. As the story progresses, the film provides a healthy trickle of incidents that would make any viewer not like Zyair. Still, according to the private investigator, Zyair is telling the truth when he denies that he was ever involved in the murder, and Mea shares the sentiment.
Initially, all evidence agrees with the accusation that Zyair is indeed the murderer. As Mea delves further, Zyair attempts to extend his hand in friendship, which Mea declines. Yet, to push him to open up, she must do the same, and Mea does exactly that. Zyair eventually admits that he is very attracted to Mea, but Mea immediately rejects him. In this incident, the film tries to convince its viewers that Zyair may have murdered Hydie. In just a short amount of time, he’s already gotten over his previous girlfriend’s brutal death, and he’s already seeking to court Mea. When she rejects him again, Zyair’s womanizing attributes are made clear. He asks for Mea to accompany him to a sex club. Here again, the movie tries to indirectly prove to the viewer that he had something to do with the death of Hydie, depicting him as a sex addict.
Aided by her suspicions towards her husband, Mea gives in to Zyair’s seduction and sleeps with him. Eventually, a confrontation takes place where she admits to Cal in front of the entire family that she did sleep with Zyair. She is told to leave, after which she takes her devastated self, quits the case, and heads off to a resort in the Dominican for a vacation. However, when she encounters Hydie, who is well and alive and working at her hotel, she gobbles her emotions and calls the family to announce this news. She is quickly summoned back by them.
In a final confrontation, it is revealed that Raymond, Cal’s brother, is the instigator of a plot to frame Zyair. He wanted to get revenge on Zyair for sleeping with Raymond’s wife, Charlise. Their mother never had cancer; it was just so that Raymond could get sympathy votes to become Mayor. All along, the Harper family was plotting and scheming against Zyair, planting fake evidence that would be enough to prosecute him. As Mea stumbled her way into the case, she, too, was completely unaware of what she was getting into. While it is proven that Zyair is a womanizer, we know for sure that he didn’t kill Hydie.
We can speculate that the Harper brothers had planned the entire scenario, threatening Hydie to go into hiding. They would have manipulated her documents and identity, making her past untraceable, just as Mea’s private investigator could not find her family’s whereabouts. They would have then assaulted Hydie and fabricated a crime scene brutal enough to fit their vengeance against Zyair. However, as things stand, Hydie is still alive and well, taking shelter under the Dominican sun.
Read More- Netflix’s Mea Culpa Ending Explained: Why Did Ray Frame Zyair?
