'My Fault: London' Review: Amazon Prime's Tasteless YA Adaptation

In “My Fault: London,” there simply aren’t enough alterations to author Mercedes Ron’s source material, “Culpa Mía,” to make its trashy gimmick the least bit palatable. The Wattpad fiction’s original Spanish adaptation of the same name, which debuted on Prime Video in 2023, seemingly fits the definition of a “guilty pleasure,” making audiences cringe as non-blood related stepsiblings challenge puritanical social mores with their embarrassingly toxic, borderline incestuous courtship. At least that iteration didn’t contain the parents laughing off any sneaking suspicions their kids are having hot sex with each other under their roof.

This slightly-toned-down English-language version plays as if a teen Jackie Collins wrote an illicit romance between two cantankerous step-siblings set in the worlds of “The Fast and the Furious” and “Never Back Down.” If that sounds chaotically messy, it’s because it is. The leading lovers’ sharp edges are shaved down, softened to add rooting interest that – for discerning subscribers who click play – doesn’t resonate, because it’s impossible to get over the taboo of it all. Marking their directorial debut, Charlotte Fassler and Dani Girdwood (the duo also goes by “Similar but Different”) demonstrate visual dexterity within the propulsive action sequences, yet fail to avoid the lazy, clichéd pitfalls of the pre-existing narrative.

Eighteen-year-old Noah (Asha Banks) is less than thrilled to be leaving behind her car, boyfriend Dan (Harry Gilby) and bestie Haley (Tallulah Evans) in Miami. Her soft-spoken mom Ella (Eve Macklin) has just married British billionaire William (Ray Fearon) and is moving them to the family mansion in London. Once Noah arrives, she’s warmly welcomed by everyone from the staff to her new stepdad. Well, almost everyone. William’s arrogant, financially independent son Nick (Matthew Broome) doesn’t take kindly to her, and she’s equally caustic in return. Their bickering and banter opens the door to bonding once Noah enters Nick’s dangerous world of fast cars, fist fights and furious figureheads.

Turns out Nick and Noah have more in common than they realize. Noah’s dealing with severe daddy issues surrounding her father’s (Jason Flemyng) substance and physical abuse, as well as his subsequent incarceration. Meanwhile, Nick is sorting through his mommy issues stemming from her alcoholism. However, the underground racing and bare-knuckle brawling circuit isn’t helping Nick stay out of danger and in his younger half-sister Maddie’s (Seosaimhin Hennelly) life. Drama escalates further once unhinged criminal Ronnie (Sam Buchanan) targets Nick and his loved ones in a brutal harassment campaign, which brings the step-siblings closer together, locking them in a torrid sexual affair. Eww!

Writer Melissa Osborne does what she can to polish the narrative’s more regressive aspects (like the fairy tale nature of Noah’s glow-up, and her attraction to the bad boy due to her deep-seated psychological issues), adding in self-aware humor to poke fun at the problematic parts. But it’s neither innovative nor subversive, as the character development remains the same. Tiny tweaks strip away the Spanish feature’s more ludicrous details (such as the timing of Noah’s kidnapping), while aging Noah up one year moderately lessens the ick-factor. But the same rote, lackluster story beats remain.

Logic questions and contrivances also abound. Given Nick’s abundant wealth and Noah’s desperation to stay in Miami, it’s baffling why either of these legal adults would choose to still live with their parents. Noah’s dad breaking out of jail, fleeing parole and escaping to another country in a post-9/11 world is mind-numbingly preposterous. Nick’s mother’s rules forbidding her adult son’s extracurricular activities only extend to certain misbehaviors, and not the glaringly forbidden one in which he’s currently engaged. But bless these filmmakers for bequeathing her with the unintentionally hilarious line: “All the anger he feels for me comes out through his fists or on the road.”

Though the story fails to take hold, the aesthetics add glossy beauty. Fassler and Girdwood, along with cinematographer Ed Moore and editor Robert Frost, heighten pulse rates during car races and pursuits. Noah’s race against Ronnie feels like it belongs in the “Fast and Furious” canon as they barrel like beasts around confined spaces. Nick’s shiny, cherry red McLaren zooming through the city and countryside is photographed with a crafty eye. It’s unabashed car porn that gets the heart revving. Meanwhile, Nick’s fight club sequences go handheld to increase intimacy and immediacy, delivering a stinging sense of raw pathos.

Banks and Broome’s commitment to the bit goes a long way in terms of their chemistry. Though the gross undertones in the material hobble our investment in their characters’ conundrums, their performances are magnetic. Enva Lewis, who plays Noah’s first British friend Jenna, threatens to run away with the show with her beguiling charm, humor and naturalism. She and Banks share clever banter, talking as close girlfriends do, suggesting an entirely different, more engaging film centered on their friendship instead.

There are two more books in Ron’s “Culpables” series awaiting their English-language adaptations, but there’s not much hope they’ll fare any better, considering the shameless material. Even if one overlooks the film’s overt embrace of the protagonists’ scandalous relationship (they’re often called brother and sister, which is pretty skeevy, regardless of its jocular intent), there’s precious little to make us want to continue our journey with these deplorables.