Not that I think this is a bad thing, but some films you can absolutely tell are stage adaptations. It can sometimes be distracting, but sometimes, with the right level of just owning it, it can work. Such is the case in Deathtrap, somewhat elevated by the fact that the plot itself is about writing a play. Or, not. It’s suitably convoluted in a very stagey way, with Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve clearly having an absolute blast twisting and turning their way through it. Farcical is perhaps underselling it - whilst its obviously a comedy, it’s not played for the broad laughs, instead preferring to apply the tropes to the relationships more directly. You’re never quite sure at any one moment who’s getting one over on who, and the denouement, if maybe a bit too tidy, is satisfying in how it ties everything up - again, a (potentially ill-informed understanding of a) difference between theatre and film, the higher expectation of or willingness towards ambiguous endings. I would really quite like to see this on the stage, now, but hey, maybe one day they’ll revive it. In the meantime, this adaptation, sufficiently self-involved to the correct degree, will absolutely make do for now.