The year 2021 is already proving to be 2020's weird, lawless cousin. But if attempted coups and Redditors manipulating the stock market isn’t enough proof, then try this on for size: white savior, B-movie actor, and wife of Trump Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Louise Linton and Ed Westwick—best known as the slippery Chuck Bass on Gossip Girl and an alleged rapist—starring in a sexy comedy thriller.
Me You Madness is written, directed, and produced by Linton and tells the story of... you know what, let me just share the official synopsis from the film’s YouTube account:
“Me You Madness” tells the deliciously wicked tale about a beautiful, ruthlessly ambitious, intelligent, and successful businesswoman, Catherine Black (Louise Linton). She lives a life of luxury having an architectural dream house in Malibu, exclusive designer fashions, fast cars, and exquisite jewelry. She has no need for a man except to satisfy her natural serial killer instinct, literally. When Tyler (Ed Westwick), a petty thief, responds to her online roommate ad, he thinks he’s struck gold. He has no idea that after a night of partying and passion, he is really just on her menu to be her next victim until real romance gets in the way.
Uh, sure. I mean, Catherine Black’s characterization is a little too on the nose, given Linton’s real-world reputation as a shameless braggart who thoughtlessly flexed labels like Hermes, Valentino, and Tom Ford while accompanying her husband on work trips to some of the poorest states in the nation... but fine!
It looks like a charmless Mr. and Mrs. Smith: the trailer is largely comprised of gratuitous shots of an oh-so-slender Linton doing SoulCycle (something she loves in real life too), playing with knives, and indulging in her apparent nymphomania while Westwick offers a smidge of comic relief and gets his ass kicked. Linton, a Scot, struggles to sell a... whatever that accent is supposed to be. Westwick’s entire presence in this vanity project just screams Hollywood fall from grace. And the ’80s soundtrack, title fonts, and lighting reek of an Atomic Blonde rip off. This begs the question: Is this camp or is this just sad?
Me You Madness might have the qualities of a reviled cult favorite, a movie that’s so bad but so deliciously fun to watch. But the Westwick allegations and Linton’s loathsome behavior during the Trump era might make this just a little too hard to truly enjoy. It’s easier, instead, to speculate about how awful this Lousie Linton joint will be compared to the movies Mnuchin produced. He might have been a feckless Trump ride-or-die, but he did finance some genuinely good movies: Mad Max: Fury Road, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Lego Movie, and more. Linton has this to add to the Mnuchin Extended Universe. Godspeed.