How Tyler Perry’s Duplicity borrows from the director’s previous works, but keeps it all fresh

Tyler Perry’s Duplicity, a legal thriller, premiered on March 20, 2025, on Prime Video. It follows Marley (Kat Graham), a smart lawyer looking into her best friend’s husband’s death, a police shooting. Together with her boyfriend Tony, a private investigator, she brims with lies and risks danger to uncover the truth.

The movie blends suspense, betrayal, and survival with Perry's history such as Mea Culpa (2024), in which an attorney delves into murder, and Acrimony (2018) featuring betrayal. The movie is reminiscent of The Family That Preys (2008) and complex relationships.

But Duplicity feels new with its police violence theme, unlike Mea Culpa’s artist plot or Acrimony's revenge focus. It adds a fresh legal chase and a team effort, not just one person’s fight. This keeps Perry’s style of drama and twists alive while bringing a different story to viewers.

How Duplicity mirrors Tyler Perry’s signature style while feeling fresh

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Tyler Perry’s Duplicity mixes ideas from Perry’s past films while adding new twists. It follows Marley (Kat Graham), a lawyer digging into her friend’s husband’s police shooting, uncovering betrayal. This echoes Perry’s earlier works like Mea Culpa (2024), where a lawyer (Kelly Rowland) faces secrets in a murder case.

Both stories use suspense and personal stakes, but Duplicity focuses on police violence, a fresh topic for Perry, unlike Mea Culpa’s artist-client plot. Another similar film is Acrimony (2018), in which a woman (Taraji P. Henson) is betrayed by her husband. Like Acrimony, Duplicity has emotional drama and a big twist, but it adds a legal thriller angle and a group of friends, not just one person’s revenge.

Perry’s The Family That Preys (2008) also shares messy relationships and secrets, yet Duplicity stands out with its modern setting and action-packed ending. While borrowing drama and betrayal from his past, Duplicity feels new with its police case focus and Kat Graham’s strong lead role.

All about Tyler Perry's Duplicity

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Tyler Perry’s Duplicity is a legal thriller with having duration of 1 hour 49 minutes, exclusively available on Prime Video. The story centers on Marley Wells (Kat Graham), a skilled attorney who takes on a deeply personal case. Her best friend Fela Blackburn’s (Meagan Tandy) husband, Rodney Blackburn (Joshua Adeyeye), is shot and killed by police while jogging in a wealthy neighborhood.

At first, it looks like a case of police violence, with rookie officer Caleb Kaine (Jimi Stanton) pulling the trigger. Marley teams up with her boyfriend Tony (Tyler Lepley), a former cop now working as a private investigator, to find out what really happened.

As they dig deeper, they uncover a complicated web of lies involving people close to them. The truth comes out that Rodney’s death was no accident—it was a planned murder set up by Fela, Tony, and another officer, Kevin (RonReaco Lee).

They tricked Caleb into shooting Rodney, motivated by personal grudges and money from a city payout. Marley gets caught by the group and nearly drowns on a boat, but she escapes using her wits and a flare gun to stop them. In the end, she makes sure Fela, Tony, and Kevin face justice for their betrayal and Rodney’s death, showing her fight for truth in a messy, dangerous situation.

Read more: Tyler Perry's Duplicity ending explained

Stay tuned for more news and updates and watch Tyler Perry's Duplicity on Prime Video.

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