Netflix's latest film, Brazen, is based on Nora Roberts' novel Brazen Virtue — a murder mystery that highlights the dangers of sex workers at work. And like any good mystery, it keeps the audience guessing until the very end.
Brazen stars Alyssa Milano as Grace, a skilled mystery writer and self-described crime expert. His estranged sister, Kathleen (Emily Ulerup), a high school English teacher, moonlights as a camgirl named "Desiree" for extra cash. When Kathleen is murdered in her own home while camouflaging, Grace uses her crime-writer skills to help solve the case, much to the dismay of Detective Ed Jennings (Sam Page), Joe repeatedly warns him that fantasy is nothing like the real deal. Grace ignores her protests and continues to investigate the mysterious murder of her sister, learning more about Kathleen's secrets – and joining a parallel investigation – as well.
Like any crime thriller, the "whodunnit" question is rampant throughout the film. Did the killer know someone Kathleen, or a stranger? And why did he do this? Below, an explanation of Brazen's ending, and some information about the murderer's motive. (Warning: Major spoilers ahead.)
Grace is immersed in the investigation by presenting herself as "Desiree".
Eventually, Grace learns that other webcam actors are also being attacked - and the killer is calling his victims "desiree." Armed with this information, Grace decides to lure her into a trap by dressing up and camouflaging as Desiree, believing that he will see her online and ventures to Kathleen's house to find her.
Meanwhile, two of Kathleen's former students — Randy (Daniel Diemer), a troubled teen, and Gerald (Matthew Aaron Finlan), a star student — are questioned by investigators along the way. When evidence emerges that points to Randy, he is immediately targeted as the prime suspect, but maintains his innocence. After wrestling practice when the two are alone in a locker room, Randy confronts Gerald; He says that he was framed, and accuses Gerald of being obsessed with Kathleen. Gerald proceeds to attack Randy, revealing himself as the killer in the process. It has been hinted that his romantic feelings for his former teacher may have been part of his motive.
The motive of the killer was in the words of the mother.
Now that investigators have enough evidence to bring Gerald in for questioning, they call off Grace's plan to lure the killer into a setup. But Grace disobeys his orders, and waits for Kathleen to come home. When Gerald arrives, she tricks him into confessing his crimes on camera. Gerald then tries to kill Grace, but Detective Ed arrives just in time and shoots her.
As Grace explains just before her final performance, Gerald's love for Kathleen/Desiri is rooted in her mother's issues. His own mother, a Missouri senator based in Washington, DC, is hypercritical and somewhat cold to him. “You loved Kathleen because she embraced everything your mother isn’t. She was parenting and caring,” Grace says. She explains when Kathleen, as a teacher, was supportive and Kind, "Desiree's outspoken, dominatrix manner" was "too close to home" for Gerald. This shocked him, and the latter broke into Kathleen's house while she was camouflaging and killed her.
The film depicts the dangers that sex workers face while at work.
While both the film and the novel are fictional, the dangers that sex workers face are very real. A study by the Urban Justice Center's Sex Worker Project states that approximately 50% of sex workers have experienced physical violence at work, and 45% to 75% of sex workers will have faced violence at some point.