From writer, director, and producer Tyler Perry comes ‘Mea Culpa,’ a tale of intrigue and crime, filled to the brim with deceit and unexpectedly intertwined developments bound to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. The film revolves around Mea Harper, played by Kelly Rowland, a defense attorney who takes up a notorious case involving the artist Zyair Malloy, who is accused of murdering his girlfriend. Harper unravels shocking revelations on the way while battling a shaky marriage and her own desires.
The film delves deep into the schemes of the influential and rattles audiences with interconnected and unanticipated narrative movements. ‘Mea Culpa’ handpicks tropes from the legal thriller genre and repurposes them into a feature fit for acclaim. While the film aims to answer most of the queries viewers will have, uncertainty looms on the complicated relationship between Mea and Zyair. SPOILERS AHEAD
Mea and Zyair Go Their Separate Ways
Mea and Zyair do not end up together. The film introduces Zyair Malloy as a talented artist with a history of deceit and womanizing. When the film starts, his case and actions have already made their way to the news outlets. His actions have caused quite an uproar among activists, who want to see him behind bars. Zyair makes his way to Mea’s office and tries to convince her to take up his case, but initially, Mea rejects this.
Over time, Mea reviews her options, which are heavily influenced by finances and the constant condescension of her husband Cal’s family. A fit of rage towards them strikes a nerve in Mea, and she decides to take up the case. However, Cal’s brother Raymond is on the opposing end, prosecuting Zyair. Despite telling Zyair to meet in her office, he persuades her to conduct her interrogation at his loft, where he lives and works. He claims the media is surveilling every move of his, and meeting at his loft would be the best.
Mea hesitantly agrees. The duo meets several times at his loft, where Mea questions him and his whereabouts during the time of the murder. According to Mea’s private investigator, Zyair is actually telling the truth when denying that he was ever involved in the murder. All evidence agrees with the accusation that Zyair is indeed the murderer. As Mea dives deeper, Zyair tries to put out his hand in friendship, which Mea rejects. However, to get him to open up, she must do the same. Mea does so, and the duo gets closer. Zyair eventually admits that he is very attracted to Mea, but Mea immediately rejects him.
Zyair’s womanizing traits are made evident here when he asks Mea to accompany him to what seems like a sex club. The film implies that Zyair did end up using one of the sex club’s services. Meanwhile, Cal is trying to fix things with Mea, promising that their situation will get better with time. As the story progresses, Zyair tries to seduce Mea, but once again, she doesn’t want anything to do with that.
As she leaves his loft, her private investigator sends her an image of Cal with Jenna, Cal’s friend. He has supposedly been cheating on Mea with this woman. Enraged by this, Mea overlooks all attorney and client relationship rules and allows Zyair to seduce her. They end up sleeping together. Zyair has acquired another canvas (Mea) to paint on. He paints a portrait of Mea and hangs it directly over his bed.
Filled with guilt, she returns the next day to her office, where Cal awaits. He has been worried about Mea and her whereabouts. He explains that the entire family was in the hotel room because Cal’s mother, who is suffering from cancer, was not feeling well and needed to be near the hospital. Cal is upset that she isn’t acknowledging Cal’s efforts in their marriage, to which Mea feels even more hurt and guilty. Mea then decides to relieve herself from Zyair’s case and offers him another attorney who can take up his case. Zyair, of course, only wants Mea, and he convinces her to stick around.
To get additional information on the case, Mea meets Renee, a woman who helped Zyair in his initial days and now helps him sell his work. She reveals that Zyair also had relations with her, but then, once he lost interest, he stopped caring. Renee uses the analogy of Zyair being a snake who doesn’t hurt his victims when he stalks them. She was, in her words, just another canvas for him to paint on. Mea goes back to his loft, only to uncover several paintings hidden under her portrait of the numerous women Zyair has slept with. Enraged by this, she leaves only for Zyair to reveal that he is in love with her.
Until now, Zyair has been portrayed as an absolute womanizer who just cannot get enough, and most of the evidence found has pointed to him being the murderer. However, things are quite different as the story pans out. Right at the end, we see Zyair walk out of court a free man. He addresses the media, saying that it’s all Mea’s doing. He is a free man because of her. Mea is seen in the proximity of the court and receives a message from Zyair thanking her and asking if they can meet. Mea doesn’t want anything to do with that man and drops her phone into a trash can.
The film clearly implies that Mea and Zyair do not end up together despite his attempt to reignite a potential relationship. She is traumatized by the disaster that has just occurred in her life and wants to stay away from any other chaos, including Zyair. Mea’s cell phone is the least of her worries, as she discards it without even the minutest hesitation. Mea is trying to move on with her life and stay away from any relationships currently, considering it was relationships that almost got her killed.
Mea’s story is one of trust that kept being broken, even by some of the closest individuals around her. Ironically, as notorious as Zyair is, he is one of the few people who didn’t really do anything to Mea. However, this does not indicate that Mea will take him back anytime soon. This is quite clearly implied in the film. Considering all the trouble, Mea probably booked herself another flight to get away from this entire mess and enjoy a long, well-deserved vacation.
Read More: Mea Culpa: Where Was the Legal Thriller Movie Filmed?
