Motives 2004

Emery Simms, played by Shemar Moore, is a highly educated business tycoon whose polished life takes a dangerous turn after he embarks on an adulterous fling with the wildly free-spirited Allanah James, played by Golden Brooks. What begins as a sudden, impulsive liaison spirals into a deadly web when Emery accidentally kills a man who was pressing him for information. The scene is made more tense by the fact that the dead man’s phone, which holds a log of all their calls, goes unnoticed by Emery as he slips away, leaving a crucial clue behind.

A tense sequence unfolds as Emery tries to navigate the fallout. He calls his friend Brandon Collier, played by Sean Blakemore, who doesn’t answer, heightening the sense of danger. Allanah, whose car breaks down, receives a ride from Emery, who remains unaware that she’s working a bigger angle to secure her place in his life and in his world. The tension escalates when Emery insists they have dinner, and both the police and a persistent follower track them. A crazed man sees them kissing in a restaurant, confronts Emery, and a violent encounter shakes the night apart.

Back at Allanah’s life, she moves into one of Emery’s properties and asserts her grip on the condo and the lifestyle, even inviting a friend to stay. The friend drops a provocative line about keeping the arrangement if certain conditions are met, and the moment foreshadows the tangled loyalties to come. A revealing moment with a box cutter, given to Brandon by Emery, hints at the danger behind their reunion as they reminisce about college days, blurring lines between old friendships and new betrayals.

Allannah’s shocking pregnancy becomes a turning point. In a park, she informs Emery and announces that he is the father, leading him to demand an abortion, which she refuses. The couple’s relationship becomes an increasingly fragile triangle as Allanah engineers a meeting with Connie, Emery’s wife, by sending a romantic note that Connie mistakes as from Emery. Connie arrives to find an elaborate setup—flowers, wine, and a table—where Allanah pressurizes her for money. Connie offers a $100,000 check before returning home, packing to leave Emery, while Allanah’s manipulations continue to unfold.

A confrontation at the condo erupts when Derrick Woods, Allanah’s husband, arrives seeking money, followed by Emery who confronts Allanah about the meeting with Connie. The tension explodes into a heated fight; Derrick reacts violently, and in the struggle, the crucial check is dropped. Allanah seizes the check and flees the condo, still very much alive. But her luck runs out soon after when her throat is cut, and she is found dead, setting off a police inquiry.

Emery is summoned to the police station and questioned by Detective Morgan, played by Mel Jackson, and Detective Pierce, played by Victoria Rowell. Emery maintains that Allanah was alive when he left the condo, just as Derrick insists the same. The two men are eventually released, while Connie remains wary and uncertain about Emery’s guilt.

As the investigation deepens, Emery seeks out pictures that allegedly show him with Allanah in compromising moments, but the search yields nothing. The story then jumps to a youth event where Connie delivers a speech; soon after, Emery is arrested for Allanah’s murder. In the meantime, Brandon confesses an ulterior plan—he wants Connie and Emery’s life—and fights erupt between him and Emery, though Emery stops before any lasting damage.

What follows is a courtroom-like unraveling of truth. Emery is sentenced to prison, while Connie visits him with divorce papers he must sign, a moment that underscores the erosion of their marriage. Connie eventually departs with Brandon’s gaze lingering as he’s led away, and the film’s final turn reveals a shattering twist: it was Brandon who orchestrated the scheme, framing Emery and orchestrating the murder of Allanah James and Kenneth Stroud by sending evidence to Detectives Pierce and Morgan in a bid to win Connie.

In a climactic flashback, the audience learns that Brandon manipulated events to secure Connie for himself, at the cost of Emery’s freedom and Allanah’s life. The finale shows Emery being taken back to his cell, crying out for Connie as she leaves with Brandon. The closing credits reveal that Emery is awaiting appeal for the murders of Allanah James and Kenneth Stroud, his fate hanging in the balance as the truth behind the scheme remains contested and unresolved.