What is this Passionflix?

My husband took off on a week-long ski trip, leaving me and the dogs the entire couch and total control of the remote. Scrolling through the endless list of movie and series options with no idea what I might be in the mood for (and nothing looking particularly good), I stumbled across The Black Dagger Brotherhood series on the streaming platform Passionflix. I had previously heard a rumor that J.R. Ward’s early 2000s highly addictive book series was being adapted, and I jumped at the chance to see those big bad vampire dudes in the 3-D flesh. I signed up for the 7-day free trial and found myself immersed in a world of romance novels come-to-life.

Passionflix was founded in 2017 by director and producer Tosca Musk (yes, she’s Elon’s sister and sadly not free of controversy). The platform’s mission is to produce and release film adaptations of romance novels, a genre generally neglected by Hollywood, and to tell these stories from the female perspective. Some high name authors have allowed their works to be adapted, including Sylvia Day (Afterburn/Aftershock), Jill Shalvis (The Trouble With Mistletoe), Kristen Ashley (The Will), and Brenda Jackson (A Brother’s Honor/A Man’s Promise/A Lover’s Vow).

I will say that the adaptations are very faithful. While this is a boon for book purists, it’s also proof that sometimes changes are necessary, because written novels don’t always make for good TV. For example, in two different films the respective heroes resisted the heroines’ attempted seductions with a vague “I can’t do this”. There was never any explanation for this ‘can’t’, and because we weren’t privy to any internal monologue, their resistance made no sense at all, especially since these same guys were more than willing to go to town soon afterwards without any observable changes. In most cases, conflicts were too easily resolved, the endings rushed to their inevitable HEAs. I can only assume this would prove the case in the source material as well, but somehow on TV this storytelling defect is far more blatant and egregious.

The Hollywood Reporter described Passionflix productions as “saucier than Hallmark but much tamer than porn”. Indeed, the sex scenes are what I would call soft-core super-lite. Occasional female nudity up top and the flash of a male butt, but really not more than you’d find on Bridgerton. Some movies are designated ‘closed door’, so it seems like there is a range for all spice-tolerances. Female sexuality is front and center and fully unapologetic, with copious shots of bare male chests sculpted to perfection and heroes enthusiastically focused on pleasuring their lovers ‘below the Equator’.

The budgets are low by Hollywood standards (TemuHBO for sure), and sometimes it shows. In one movie, the heroine whips a Mixmaster-style stand mixer out of a box with one hand and waves it around, proving it to be a cheap plastic prop because I know for a fact those suckers weigh like twenty pounds. In Wallbanger, the heroine is annoyed because the hero’s ‘wallbanging’ activities on the other side of a shared wall keep her awake at night. Except the set is constructed so that they live across the hall from each other and don’t share any walls, thus negating the entire premise. But given that most romance novels are free from fancy CGI needs, the lower budgets generally don’t detract from the story beyond the hit-or-miss talent of unknown actors and in the case of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, some really, really bad wigs.

Currently, the platform’s offerings are pretty sparse. There are thirty movies/adaptations, three series, and eleven ‘quickie’ short films. I’m working my way through (I still have around ten movies to check out and two different series and all of the shorts), and I’ve encountered a fifty percent success rate as far as my enjoyment goes.

I’ve DNF’d several for the following reasons: Hero was too much of an unlikeable asshat (Hollywood Dirt). Hero seemed to be a jerk and the actor was physically offputting (Resisting Roots). Beginning was too slow/didn’t capture my interest (Gabriel’s Inferno). The actors were really bad (Lick). The premise was stupid (also Lick).

But I found many movies to be very entertaining. I especially enjoyed The Air He Breathes (I actually cried), The Will (Jake was one of my favorite heroes), and Tangled (great enemies to lovers and groveling). Seduction and Snacks and Wait With Me were laugh-out-loud funny. I also liked Dirty Sexy Saint (I’m hoping they adapt the sequels) and the aforementioned Wallbanger, despite the production-created plot hole.

Unfortunately, the platform’s keystone offering – the Gabriel’s Inferno series – failed to capture my interest even after giving it a solid hour. The hero was too moody and inconsistent, the story too slow, and the heroine too much of a limp dishrag to appeal to me in any way. I later learned that the book shares a lineage with Fifty Shades of Grey (both began as Twilight fanfic), which explained a lot. Since there are nine Gabriel’s Fill-In-The-Blank adaptations, that’s nearly a third of the movie offerings that I won’t be watching. 

As for the BDB adaptation… let’s just say if you’re a fan of the books, they are definitely fun to watch. The first season is very faithful to Dark Lover, down to Rhage turning into a dragon and the grossness of the Lessers. The wigs that the actors have to wear are very unfortunate, as are the obvious contact lenses bulging over their eyeballs. (For crying out loud, show runners, please let Rhage take off that ghastly blond wig!) I do think it was well-cast, with Michael Roark as Butch being the most outstanding. Funnily enough, I watched a handful of promo vids with the actors as themselves, and they are far more attractive in their natural state than they are when made up to be the swoon-worthy brothers.

Apparently the next BDB title is in production and scheduled for release in 2026 (this would be Rhage’s book, Lover Eternal), and I confess that I’m absolutely salivating for Zsadist’s story (Lover Awakened) because it is one of my top ten romances ever. For a fun review of this adaptation, check out Danielle Binks substack article where she expresses my thoughts exactly. And if you really want a kick, hunt down the video shorts of J.R. Ward when she first ‘meets’ the actors dressed up as their characters. (My favorite one, and this one is hilarious.)

As much as I’m loath to add yet another streaming platform to my already too-high entertainment budget, I’ll stick with Passionflix for a while to see what they do. I’m really hoping if they have some success, they’ll be able to increase budgets and get more high-quality authors to allow adaptations. Heaven knows the amount of source material for great romance movies is nearly endless!

~ Jenna Harper