A Murder in Oakland: Beauty Is Deadly

When I sat down to watch the 2025 crime thriller "A Murder in Oakland: Beauty Is Deadly", I must admit that I figured I would be in for a movie from Maverick Entertainment, given the presentation of the movie's cover. Thankfully that was not the case.

Sure, I had never even heard about this movie from director Marcus D. Spencer prior to watching it, so I didn't know what I was in for. But I still opted to give the movie a fair chance.

Writers Eduardo Castrillo and Marcus D. Spencer put together a rather boring, monotonous and pointless script and storyline. 30 minutes into the 72 minute runtime and I had utterly and completely lost interest in the story, as it wasn't there, and also in the characters, as they had the appeal of cardboard cutouts.

But of course a movie that is written by, directed by and starring the one and same person usually is a garbage heap. And "A Murder in Oakland: Beauty Is Deadly" was one such movie at the hands of Marcus D. Spencer.

Needless to say that I was not familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, not even a single one. The acting performances in the movie were adequate, but nothing noteworthy.

The music in the movie was terrible. But then again I never enjoyed rap or hip hop even a little. So the music in the movie definitely wasn't music to my ears.

This is most definitely not a movie that I would recommend you to waste your time, money or effort on. Some of us suffered through this, literally, so you don't have to; you're quite welcome.

My rating of writer, director and leading actor Marcus D. Spencer's 2025 movie "A Murder in Oakland: Beauty Is Deadly" lands on a two out of ten stars. And it is the production value of the movie that drags the movie up from a one star rating to a two star rating.

A Murder in Oakland follows the reopening of a serial murder case that rocked the city a couple years back. Two police detectives who are working together for the first time must set aside their differences to follow old trails around the murders. In the meantime, lead detective Williams (Marcus D. Spencer) also grapples with his personal struggle.

Spencer - pulling triple duty as actor, director and co-writer on the film - strings together a compelling crime thriller with strong emphasis on its characters.

The murder mystery is zippy and gives you enough to keep guessing. Running through the background of the investigation is a collection of real people with their own struggles. Sometimes, the shifts aren't the smoothest, in particular the bit with the police therapist and her marital issue. On its own, this B-plot has a compelling conflict. It's just when put together with the rest of the film, it sticks out and disrupts the flow of the plot. Something else interesting is when Spencer includes scenes with actors flubbing their lines or laughing mid delivery. I'm not sure if it's a creative decision, but it's certainly an amusing one.

At its heart, the film really is about Detective Williams' emotional journey. The plot is the plot, but the script emphasizes Williams' psyche, from a lone wolf, chronically stressed detective with a chip on his shoulder, to someone more receptive by the end. It gives the film a different edge from other stories in the same genre.

Equal parts gritty and humane, A Murder in Oakland stands on its own as a crime thriller.