‘PERFECT ADDICTION’ is a romance-drama with a touch of action based on a popular Wattpad web novel by Claudia Tan who wrote it when she was only 17 years old and obviously knows her target market of young audiences.
It is set in the intriguing world of underground Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) competition.
The lead character is Sienna (Kiana Madeira), a working student in a community college who earns a living as a trainer of MMA fighters in the gym of her mentor and father-figure, Julian (Manu Bennett).
She has trained the hunk, Jax (Matthew Nozka, best known for the musical series, “Star”), and helped him become an underground champion.
She has also fallen in love with him even if he’s obviously a bad boy.
When he figures in a crash while on his motorcycle, his leg gets broken and Sienna patiently and lovingly nurses him back to regain his health.
She even teaches him some techniques that will help him overcome the limitations caused by his bike accident. She also helps in paying his medical bills.
With all her support and devotion to him, you’d expect Jax will reciprocate her tender loving care with faithfulness.
So imagine Sienna’s surprise when she goes home one day to their apartment and sees him having sex with her younger sister, Beth (Bree Winslow), a brazen slut who obviously doesn’t know any better.
Devastated by the treachery, she has no choice but to leave the apartment she shares with Jax and her sister.
For a while, she sleeps in the gym, until a friend refers her to his brother who has a vacant room in his apartment and Sienna can share the rent with him.
The brother (actually, foster brother) is Kayden (Ross Butler, the superhero Asian hunk in “Shazam”), who is also an MMA fighter.
At first, Kayden rejects Sienna but eventually, he accepts her to be his flatmate. And not only that, she offers to train Kayden to be a better MMA fighter than the two-timing Jax.
Kayden is one brooding guy who seems to have a big chip on his shoulder. It seems he was a negligent son to his mom who passed away and feels so guilty about it.
But he eventually opens up and warms up to Sienna and, as you might expect in romantic vehicles of this sort, they do fall in love and end up sharing the same bed which has palpable erotic tension with a black girl and an Asian guy making out.
Of course, Jax, who’s trying his best to reconcile with Sienna, is not pleased when he finds out that she has already replaced him in her heart.
This adds another level of complication when Kayden faces Jax in their underground fight.
Jax promises to obliterate Kayden and their showdown is an exciting climax in the film, what with Sienna having trained them both.
Well, it’s easy to predict who is the asshole who will get the punishment that he truly deserves.
The three main actors do well in their respective roles.
Kiana Madeira (a black Canadian actress who played the lead role in Netflix’ “Fear Street” trilogy and was part of the “After” film series) has a charming screen presence and acts pretty well in the scenes where she feels so hurt after being taken advantage of by Jax.
Noszka appears more like a toxic contravida in his efforts to win Sienna back at all cost and he’s properly irritating with all his tattoos.
Butler is a rising Asian American actor and with more and more Asians now given better exposure in Hollywood, we won’t be surprised if he’d be as popular as Harry Golding of “Crazy Rich Asians”.
The glossily shot movie is competently directed by Castille Landon, who also did some of those “After” films that were also based on Wattpad online novels.
She makes imaginative use of pop songs and ballads being liberally used as musical background for several montage sequences.
