The Switch

Samson debuts with a daffy tale of romantic suspense about a twisted game of partner-swapping between two London couples. Freelance proofreader Elena and her husband, IT support staffer Adam, are living rent-free for a season in the ritzy Wimbledon home of Adam’s aunt. One morning, Elena meets Sophia, a beautiful artist, at a local café and gets pulled into the orbit of her and her husband, Finn. Soon, Finn and Sophia’s lavish lifestyle unleashes a flood of envy in Elena, leading her to stew on the flagging passion in her own marriage and her distaste for Adam’s overbearing mother. Per Sophia’s suggestion, Elena agrees to secretly swap husbands for the night (a caper facilitated by blackout curtains) and feels an immediate, electric connection to Finn. What starts as a titillating game becomes something much stranger when Elena learns the precise nature of Finn and Sophia’s arrangement, and begins to wonder if she can comfortably cut them off without risking her life. Samson swings for high melodrama, but uninspired prose and nagging implausibility make this a firm miss. For all its sex talk, this thriller generates little heat. Agent: Cathryn Summerhayes, Curtis Brown U.K. (May)