Love and deceit ignite in director Mark Hayes’ smoldering drama “Burning Betrayal”. Alluring debutante Savannah catches the roving eye of ranch hand Darrell, to the town’s disapproving glare. Defying prudish norms, their secret trysts in the barn’s hidden corners soon spark into passionate flames. Yet just as happily ever after seems destined when Darrell proposes marriage, the fire between them engulfs into blistering accusations.Sinister notes and missing farm equipment suspiciously implicate Darrell while ambiguous glimpses cast doubt on Savannah’s fidelity too. Cryptic threats from protective father Ignatius suggest a conniving plot afoot. When the barn itself suspiciously goes up in smoke, suspicions and betrayal surround Savannah and Darrell from all sides. Is their romance doomed by meddling forces scheming to keep the class-crossing lovers permanently apart?Hayes masterfully tends the smolder by plumbing psychosexual themes. The rising heat between naïve Savannah and rugged Darrell intertwines with external pressures, inner deceptions and class divides until the flames of passion ignite an inferno of mistrust. A scorching directorial debut sizzling with secretive trysts but destined to leave jilted hearts burnt.
