Laviscount and Paige to lead Tyler Perry's Netflix thriller Confabulation

Lucien Laviscount and Taylour Paige will lead Confabulation, a new thriller written and directed by Tyler Perry for Netflix, Deadline reported on 29 September.

Topline is industry shorthand for taking the lead roles. In this case, Laviscount and Paige sit at the top of the call sheet for a film Perry has also written.

The story centres on a firefighter haunted by his past. He risks everything to rescue his high school sweetheart from her powerful husband. Then comes a twist that asks what is real and what is not.

Shamier Anderson joins in a key role, according to the same report. The wider cast lists Nadine Ellis, Peter Parros, Najah Bradley, Mikeal Dwayne Griggs, Jenna Nolen, Michelle Núñez, Colin McCalla and Shelley Robertson.

Perry is producing alongside Angi Bones and Tony L. Strickland, Deadline reported. The film continues his creative partnership with Netflix to write, direct and produce films and television series.

That partnership remains busy. Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Again, released in September, was his 10th film for the streamer. It reached No. 1 on Netflix’s Global Top 10 Movies List for English-language films in its second week.

Laviscount is best known to Netflix viewers as Alfie, the fan favourite love interest in Emily in Paris. That series ends with its sixth and final season, which premieres on Christmas Eve.

Paige is also a familiar face on the service. She previously starred in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F for Netflix, Deadline reported.

What makes this stand out for viewers is the genre. Perry built his screen career largely on family dramas, comedies and romances. Confabulation puts him back in thriller territory, with a romance at its centre and a mystery around its edges.