Going in, I knew this was going to be a bad film; it would have been a miracle if the same creative team from "Fifty Shades Darker" were able to conclude this series on a high. Alas, "Fifty Shades Freed" is sillier and more absurd than the two entries before it with cringe-worthy dialogue and embarrassing performances. "Fifty Shades Freed" struggles to follow a narrative with an endless amount of subplots being picked up and dropped throughout the film. The sex scenes are weak, fans of the series will be dissatisfied. The only thing the "Fifty Shades" films have going for them is that they have remained consistent in quality throughout the whole trilogy; they were all pretty crap. "Fifty Shade Freed" is the series' worst entry; Foley delivers yet another trashy and poorly-made flick that humiliates the film industry.

I don't think I ever realised just how bad the performances were in these films until this one. It is so obvious that neither lead feels comfortable in their role and are consequently not committed. Dakota Johnson speaks so softly; everything she says sounds passive and bland. Johnson brings little energy or charisma to her performance. Jamie Dornan's performance continues to be wooden and lifeless. I cannot fathom how some viewers have fallen in love with the portrayal of these characters; both Anastasia (Johnson) and Christian (Dornan) come across as dull and feeble. The pair lack an electrifying chemistry. Johson and Dornan can only be blamed for their performances to an extent; the screenplay contains some embarrassing and cringe-worthy lines that I sympathise with Johnson and Dornan for even having to deliver. Rita Ora's role increases slightly in this third chapter; this only exposes how limited her acting abilities are. Ora's American accent is one of the worst I've heard in a film in recent memory; Ora flips between her British accent and her character's American accent too often. Her delivery is also poor; her performance feels forced insincere. When Mia (Ora) gets kidnapped, the photo Anastasia receives of her is hilarious; Ora looks like an actor in a student film who is not taking their role too seriously. Eric Johnson's performance as Jack Hyde is tired; Eric Johnson is clearly trying to do something with the character, he is more charismatic than anyone else in the film, but Jack Hyde is nothing more than a pantomime villain. Bluntly put, there are no 'good' performances in "Fifty Shades Freed", the film is led by two actors who evidently regret being involved in this series and the supporting cast either embarrass themselves or fail to make an impression.

Anastasia Steele (soon becomes Grey) and Christian Grey are both unlikeable and problematic characters. In "Fifty Shades Freed", Ana is more submissive than ever before; Christian shouts at her for not changing the surname on her email address after they get married and instead of owning her decision, she complies and agrees to sort a solution. Christian also punishes Ana during sex for because she went out for a drink with her friend. This scene was particularly twisted but Ana soon gets over it. Ana also finds out that Christian has been in contact with Elena Lincoln; to her credit, Ana does confront him but he is soon forgiven. Ana is one of the most acquiescent characters to ever appear on the big screen, how some people manage to interpret her as an empowered woman is mind-boggling to me. Ana's unlikeability does not stop with her passiveness; there are many moments throughout the film where she just does not seem like a nice person. It is apparent that Ana struggles to have friendships with women; throughout the three films, viewers have only met one friend. Ana is by no means a feminist icon which is emphasised when she belittles Gia (Arielle Kebbel); Ana instructs Gia, the interior designer, to call her 'Mrs Grey' (until this point she has always remained humble and has been on first-name terms with everyone she meets), insults the appearance of her car and mocks her work ethic. This was intended to be a scene that shows Ana in control; to me, Ana seemed nasty and possessive. Ana also willingly speeds down bendy country roads; as someone who lives in the countryside, drivers like this are not appreciated. Ana is a bland character; in my opinion, she is an awful representation of women.

Christian Grey continues to come across as a stalker more than a man who is seriously in love. He mindlessly mistreats Ana and abuses the power he has over her. I acknowledge that this is a consensual relationship, Ana has agreed to these boundaries, but I do not see the appeal of Christian Grey; he is a narcissistic and controlling man. Christian does not allow Ana to take her bikini off on a nudist beach, he is angered whenever she does anything without telling him and is punishes Ana without her consent (I feel like this moment is glossed over and is actually rather troubling).

When it comes to narrative, "Fifty Shades Freed" tries to juggle too many subplots. This results in each subplot never being as tense, emotional or dramatic as it should be. In a 105 minute film, Ana and Christian get married, Ana falls pregnant (and has the child), Kate (Eloise Mumford) and Elliot (Luke Grimes) get engaged while Kate suspects he is cheating on her, Ana gets promoted, Christian and Ana are stalked by Jack, and Mia gets kidnapped. None of these massively impact the narrative as they should have; there is just too much going on, they all cancel each other out and the audience stops caring. If you could not tell from those plot points, the "Fifty Shades" franchise has moved in a ridiculous direction; who (non-readers) would have thought at the end of the first film that the romantic-drama trilogy would attempt to cross into the 'thriller' genre? Just like when Christian's helicopter crashed in "Fifty Shades Darker", every piece of drama in this instalment is too underdeveloped and underwritten to genuinely raise the stakes or create any sense of tension or threat. For example, Mia being kidnapped should have the audience worrying about her and on the edge of their seats; yet, as an audience, we really know nothing about Mia and therefore by default, do not care. The narrative randomly and swiftly takes the Grey family on a short-lived holiday. This would have been a great moment to develop the relationship between Mia and Christian or Mia and Ana but instead, the relationship between Christian and Elliot is explored. Why waste time focusing on a relationship that the narrative does not require to be thoroughly developed? The second film did offer some character development; we vaguely learnt about Christian's past. Unfortunately, the writers must have thought that the level of existing development was substantial enough as little effort is made to flesh out these characters further. The screenplay is ridden with many dumb lines of dialogue; Ana says "boobs and boob-land", Ana questions why Christian always loves her hair in a plait...I could go on.

Due to the amount of story that this film wants to cover, the sex scenes are sparse but also distracting. The plot does not have the time to pause for a 5-minute sex scene. I understand that the raunchiness is this franchise's niche, therefore E.L. James should have factored them in while also thinking of as many unnecessary plot points as she could. This would have likely improved the coherence and direction of the narrative as well as the effectiveness of the sex scenes. I found that this time around, none of them were particularly memorable for the right reasons. There is a particular scene that was awkward to watch and poorly executed; the entire crowd were chuckling amongst themselves. The scene begins with Christian looking in the fridge, he turns around and sees Ana sitting on the table eating ice cream. He then says "I was looking for you" (clearly he was not, he was looking in the fridge!) and then the couple proceed to spread ice cream on to each other's bodies, licking it off in a supposedly seductive way. This scene was laughable and possibly one of the weirdest examples of product placement I have seen; I am not too sure what Ben and Jerry's were thinking. In "Fifty Shades Freed", the couple have sex in the car and use a vibrator; firsts for the series. For those who pay to see these films for the BDSM element, I'm sure you will get something out of these moments but they never reach the same level as they once did. "Fifty Shades Freed" is almost comparable to when an action film allows the spectacular action sequences take a back seat in favour of dialogue and story-based scenes; "Fifty Shades Freed" does the exact same.

The only thing I can praise this film for is its soundtrack. The songs actually helped me to escape the film's most awkward moments. Dua Lipa's "High" distracted me from a weird hair-washing scene and Julia Michael's "Heaven" made that ice cream scene at least tolerable. Though the artists on this instalment's soundtrack are more low profile than who has appeared on past soundtracks, all the songs serve their purpose well. As the characters fly around to many different locations, the film was able to utilise the picturesque and attractive scenery. My favourite shot was in a dream sequence where Ana walks through a lavish ballroom; it was beautiful. Adhering to the conventions of franchise finales, "Fifty Shades Freed" ends with a montage to the backdrop of Ellie Goulding's "Love Me Like You Do". This moment was very predictable, I could not contain my laughter when the shot of Ana gazing faded into a montage of the couple's 'best moments'. I did not find this that effective as I personally have not connected to this series and despite the first film becoming a cultural moment, audiences dropped off fast which is evidenced by depreciating box office returns. "Fifty Shades Freed" has freed the world of this series.

It should not be a surprise that "Fifty Shades Freed" is a tasteless, unromantic and bland film...have you seen the two films that came before it? Dakota Johnson may have started off as one of this franchises best things but in "Fifty Shades Freed", her performance matches the quality of this material. Jamie Dornan continues to be wooden and the couple's chemistry is weak. The plot tries to take the film in too many directions and ultimately, the series' unique selling point, the sex scenes, are left on the sideline. Most of the characters are irritating and under-developed. Those who were fans of its predecessors will enjoy this but it will definitely fail to win over new fans. Films like "Fifty Shades Freed" are for a particular type of film fan but for me, it is good riddance to this trashy, shallow and dull trilogy.