The neighbor, this strange being who was the heyday of Julien Courbet, of Hitchcock, and who allows us to connect Julien Courbet and Hitchcock in the same sentence. This individual, who dares to live next to us, is today the subject of a new series on Netflix, The Beast in Mea paranoid thriller carried by two big names of the genre which brought a lot of great promise.
And while the same day is released on the streaming platform Last Samurai Standingwe radically change the atmosphere here. This series in eight episodes stages Claire Danes et Matthew Rhysthe heroine of Homeland and the ex-Philip Jennings of The Americans. Two actors accustomed to pretense, in the hands of the screenwriter of X-Files, Homeland, 24 hours flat… On paper, The Beast in Me has everything to convince.
L’histoire de The Beast in Me
Following the disappearance of his son, Aggie Wiggs (Claire Danes), renowned author, suffers from severe depression. Her marriage has collapsed, she is unable to write a line of her new novel, and she prefers to live as a recluse, alone with her dog.
A new perspective opens up to her when Neil Jarvis (Matthew Rhys) moves next to her house. Ce wealthy real estate tycoon suspected of murdering his wifewhose body remains undiscovered. But even the FBI couldn’t provide proof. At first annoyed by this seemingly charming man, Aggie will finally see it as the potential subject of her next book and perhaps solve the mystery surrounding his wife. If their respective demons don’t drown them first.
The time-devouring beast
Besides its main character resembling that of To many, The Beast in Me has qualities to showcase, starting with its casting. It was easy to imagine that Claire Danes et Matthew Rhys would be able to hold the series and it must be recognized that their interactions are the spice of the show. Between friendship, manipulation and fear, their dynamic is constantly the subject of tensions, visible or camouflaged. We also thank the screenwriters for not wanting to play the romantic card – Aggie being homosexual – so as not to fall into the tired and easy cliché.
Alongside them, we have some very good people, everyone excels in their part. Brittany Snow (Murdaugh Murders) as a demeaned trophy wife, David Lyons as an FBI agent on the tightrope, Jonathan Banks (Breaking Bad) as a patriarch more concerned with his heritage… The Beast in Me is a story of obsession for all the protagonists, the one who carries us as well as the one who devours us.
However, The Beast in Me East a story that would have greatly benefited from being written on a feature film and this shines through throughout the eight episodes. We feel that the plot is based on a few key elements and twists, except that the production instructions are to keep it on a mini-seriessurely to meet a catalog need. We know that Netflix’s policy puts more emphasis on this type of format.
Which gives rise to tons of sequences where the scenario eats up minutesincluding a whole subplot around a real estate project only there to give common scenes to Banks and Rhys. Yes, it thickens Nile Jarvis by giving him a family and professional context depicting the ocean of sharks in which he swims, jaws wide open, but nothing that could not fit in a tighter space. What does the fifth sequence tell us on the subject that the first did not tell? Nothing. The worst being that, on the other hand, the show would have benefited from offering us more sequences between Aggie and Nilenevertheless, he strives to direct his attention elsewhere.
Concerning the subject itself, whether in its revelations or its portrayal of the power of money, nothing that will be said or shown there sheds new light or differs from the incredible number of proposals that have already addressed these themes. Once again, the whole thing is rather well done, but without any real interest. We are far from the reach of a 24 hours flat or a Homelandin a different genre certainly, who knew how to bring a certain modernity, absent in the present case.
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The Beast in Me East yet another filler production which has great people, great ideas, but the whole of which is absolutely not adapted to a serial imperativewhere a feature film could have given something much more impactful. A series that does the job as they say, but whose overly meager writing prevents it from taking off beyond its few twists. A show neither boring nor particularly exhilarating which will be able to integrate a selection from the catalog and which will have been forgotten within a few days. A barely satisfactory series, due to lack of ambition. Lots of talent wasted here.
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