Burning Betrayal
甘美なる裏切り
Storyline
The whole story, ending included.
An accountant discovers her fiancé's betrayal and answers with her motorbike, a riders' club and the judge she finds there.
Babi is an accountant who runs a firm with her oldest friend, Thiago, and is a week away from marrying Caio, a successful businessman whose account brings in a third of their income. She has even agreed to sell her beloved motorbike because he says it takes too much of her time. At a preliminary hearing into Caio's dealings with a construction company under suspicion, she locks eyes with the judge, Marco Ladeia. At her hen party a package brings photographs of Caio with another woman. With Thiago and her friend Patty she breaks into his office, learns the affair has lasted two years, wrecks the place and leaves with his laptop.
Babi calls off the wedding, remakes herself, buys back her motorbike and joins a riders' club, where she finds that Marco is a member. On a club trip to the coast they make love on the beach; in the morning he has gone, leaving a note. Someone films them and sends Babi the video with a warning to keep away from him. Thiago confesses his feelings for her. Patty persuades her to give Marco a chance, and the affair becomes a romance, until a woman bursts into Marco's house calling him her husband. Babi rides off in fury and is run off the road. Marco, who suspects it was no accident, takes her to meet his daughter, Vitória, born with a rare genetic condition and living in hospital. The woman, Paula, is the girl's mother, whose mental illness once put the child in danger; the divorce is almost final.
Having cracked Caio's password, Babi finds fake accounts that point to money laundering, and decides to give the evidence to Marco. Thiago, it turns out, drew Caio into the scheme, sent the photographs, shot the video and caused the crash. He takes Babi at gunpoint into the woods, where Caio has dug a grave. Caio will not shoot. Babi hits him with the shovel, and Thiago seizes the gun and kills Caio. Marco, alerted by a wiretap and tracing Babi's phone through Patty, arrives and is shot; a police officer shoots Thiago dead, and Marco survives. Six months later Babi and Marco are readying a room for Vitória to come home, and they ride to the beach.
Starring
Giovanna Lancellottias Babi
An accountant who discovers her fiancé's affair days before the wedding and sets out to live for herself.
Babi’s story
Babi has shaped her life around Caio: his account keeps her firm going, and she has agreed to sell her motorbike because he says it takes too much of her time. After the photographs arrive at her hen party, she breaks into his office with Thiago and Patty, learns the affair has lasted two years and takes his laptop. Then she remakes herself, buys the motorbike back, joins a riders' club and begins an affair with Marco, the judge, forgiving his secrecy once he shows her his daughter in hospital. Cracking Caio's password, she finds evidence of money laundering and means to give it to Marco; Thiago, her oldest friend, takes her into the woods at gunpoint. She survives. Six months later she and Marco are readying a room for his daughter, and they ride to the beach.
Leandro Limaas Marco Ladeia
The judge hearing her fiancé's case, a fellow biker whose private life he keeps closely guarded.
Marco Ladeia’s story
Marco is the judge at the hearing into Caio's dealings, and a member of the riders' club Babi joins. On a club trip to the coast they make love on the beach; in the morning he has gone, leaving a note. He courts her until a woman bursts into his house calling him her husband. After Babi's crash he asks to explain and takes her to meet his daughter, who has a rare genetic condition and lives in hospital; the woman is the girl's mother, whose illness once endangered her, and the divorce is nearly final. When Thiago takes Babi into the woods, Marco, alerted by a wiretap, traces her phone with Patty's help, arrives and is shot. He survives, and six months later he and Babi are readying a room for his daughter to come home.
Bruno Montaleoneas Thiago
Babi's oldest friend and business partner, who is in love with her.
Micael Borgesas Caio
Babi's fiancé, a businessman whose dealings with a construction company are under investigation.
Camilla de Lucasas Patty
Babi's close friend, who pushes her to take a chance on love again.
Why it matters
Burning Betrayal is about a woman who finds she has been living inside other people's plans. The film treats Babi's broken engagement as a release: she wins back her motorbike, her body and her appetite, and its erotic scenes are part of that recovery. Its thriller plot then turns to a harder question about whom she trusted. The betrayal that matters is not her fiancé's affair, which in the end is the lesser deceit, but the conduct of the friend who wanted her, watched her, filmed her and was ready to see her dead to protect himself. The film is loosely based on a novel by Sue Hecker. What it leaves open is how a woman learns to trust her own judgement again after discovering that the man who seemed safest was the one to fear.