Feud: Capote vs The Swans, A Review

The original housewives.

Feud: Capote vs The Swans follows famed writer Truman Capote (Tom Hollander, The White Lotus) and his titular ‘Swans’ as Truman’s latest piece of writing hits a real nerve and causes the women to cut him off for good, limiting his appearances in society and sending him down a real spiral. To begin with Truman and his Swans were the hit of every social scene, regularly getting together to gossip and spill secrets but after Truman’s writing then causes the death of one of their own, the rest of the group cut him off for good. Now without his friends Truman turns to drink and finds himself unable to finish the book that started the whole mess in the first place. Before it’s too late can the old friends put aside their differences and reconcile or will this feud be the unfortunate death of all?

This was an overall fun romp and I really liked the classic vibe and very elegant 60s/70s feel. Truman and the Swans were obviously a wealthy bunch and this was massively shown through their costuming and the multiple set designs throughout, the entire series was visually stunning. Large parts of each episode were just spent brunching and it really reflected that higher class of lifestyle, very reminiscent of the Housewives of today (hence the series tagline). Even though the actual storyline wasn’t my favourite (more on that later), Feud Capote vs The Swans looked absolutely stunning and I really enjoyed watching from this visual standpoint.

I also liked the emphasis the show put on friendships and how gossip can very much be a double bladed sword. Truman initially thrived because of all of these stories he had to tell, often making fun of those lower down that him with the Swans and generally showing his worth through who and what he knew. This also ended up being his undoing however when his greed got the better of him and he spilled secrets on those closed to him, ignoring how it would make them feel in the long haul. Telling secrets can be a dangerous thing, especially when friends get involved and I liked how Feud looked at the duality of this and how Truman was only useful when he was spreading information but how this also ended up being his downfall.

I think my main issue with this series is that despite its title we didn’t really see any actual feuding? Unlike the first season with Bette and Joan this was more like a historical miniseries on Capote’s life and most of the actual fighting was minimal and one-sided. Granted we did see the fallout from Capote’s writing in the first episode with Ann’s (Demi Moore) suicide and the Swans vowing to cut him off but really the only one who actually stuck to this was Slim (Diane Lane), with the others going back to him in the next two or three episodes. What’s more I don’t think we ever actually got a scene with all six swans together? Demi Moore’s character was killed off instantly and Molly Ringwald (Dahmer) seemingly had nothing to do with the others despite being on the poster with them. I think going into this I was expecting cat fights and bitchiness and general high drama more it was more like a dramatic interpretation of Truman and his final days and if I’m being honest I wanted a lot more drama.

Despite my issues with some of the writing here I cannot deny that the casting was spot on and Tom Hollander as Truman in particular was brilliantly accurate. I remember back in uni when I studied In Cold Blood we watched a lot of interviews with Capote as well as the 2005 film and I can only describe Capote as annoyingly brilliant. In the same way I think that Hollander captured that very needy aspect of the writer and his desperation to fit in and remain relevant. So much of the supposed drama here hinged on Truman spilling secrets to stay in the papers and the series really captured these negative aspects of his persona. The swans as well were brilliant and whilst I obviously can’t compare these to the real life figures I loved the group chemistry and performances, especially those of Watts (The Watcher) and Lane.

I hate to say it but I wasn’t the biggest fan of this show and I think it’s largely because it wasn’t what I was expecting at all. The first season of Feud was messy and bitchy but this was more like a historical miniseries with no actual fighting. I will admit the performances all around were brilliant but I went in expecting something a lot more fun when really this was akin to a history drama instead of a messy catfight like the title suggested.

Expats (TV), A Review

We are what we survive.

Not to be confused with the book of the same name (but not the book the series is based on).

Expats follows the lives of three separate women in Hong King, China as they attempt to move on from a tragedy after Margaret Woo’s (Nicole Kidman, Nine Perfect Strangers) youngest Son Gabe goes missing at the hands of new Nanny Mercy (Ji-young Yoo). Margaret had hired Mercy after her children grew too close to former Nanny Essie (Ruby Ruiz) but a trip to the night market left her entire life in shatters when Mercy loses track of Gabe in the crowds. Following on from this Margaret and Husband Clarke (Brian Tee) go on a frantic search for their son whilst Mercy retreats into the shadows, blaming herself for the incident and self-destructing as a result. Meanwhile Margret’s neighbour Hilary (Sarayu Blue, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) struggles with her own family life as she and Husband David (Jack Huston, House of Gucci) attempt to conceive a child whilst also contemplating if they even want to start a family, especially with each other. Together these three women will have to make it through the impossible, navigating the bustling streets of Hong Kong and attempting to get through the impossible.

When I first started this show I wasn’t too sure what to think, any trailers had been pretty vague about the overall storyline and even after finishing it kind of feels like one those shows where nothing massive happens. Obviously the kidnapping of Gabe took up a large part of the narrative but it wasn’t the mystery of what happened to him, more the aftermath and how those involved moved on with their lives (of failed to in Margaret’s case). We then had Hilary who seemed to take up an entirely separate narrative and occasionally interacted with other characters but for the most part remained separate to herself. I think on the whole Expats was a show about nothing in particular and just these groups of people living their lives and getting through tragedy, it wasn’t massively entertaining but I enjoyed parts of it nonetheless.

I did like how the show followed the villain so to speak, with the opening monologue talking about these great acts of tragedy and how we never seem to follow those responsible, only the victims. Here though we got to see the aftermath of Mercy losing Gabe and how it did eat away at her, causing her to then start an affair with David and fall pregnant in the process. In this regard I do think it can be said that Mercy ruined both Margaret and Hilary’s lives but at the same time she wasn’t this terrible person, at least not to us as an audience anyway. I liked how the show explored this perspective and how Margaret and to an extent Hilary saw Mercy as a terrible, awful person but to us she was just a girl who happened to make a terrible mistake and then had to live with that every single day.

The Hong Kong setting was central to the series here and I really loved how the larger than life city almost became a character in of itself. Technically all three of our lead characters were new to the country (hence the Expats title) and so much of the narrative here was surviving life in an unknown place, whether that be physical, mental or otherwise. Margaret obviously lost her son in the hustle and bustle of the night markets but then we also saw Hilary and Mercy trying to figure out life in this foreign place and work out where they belonged, it made for a very interesting character study.

Overall Expats made for an interesting watch and whilst I wasn’t sure what I was getting into at first I did ultimately like this take on life after tragedies and living in new and unfamiliar places. Each of the three women had their own unique and absorbing narrative and I liked how their lives interchanged and revolved around each other, especially with how Mercy made an impact on the other two. An entertaining watch, I had fun with this one and would definitely recommend to any drama lovers.

Apples Never Fall (TV), A Review

Secrets run in the Family.

Apples Never Fall Book Review.

The TV Adaptation of Apples Never Fall follows The Delaney family- Mother and Father Joy (Anette Bening, Captain Marvel) and Stan (Sam Neill, Flack) and their four adult children Amy (Alison Brie, Happiest Season), Troy (Jake Lacy, The White Lotus), Logan (Conor Merrigan Turner) and Brooke (Essie Randles)– as their lives are thrown into turmoil after Joy seemingly disappears without a trace. The family had previously ran a successful tennis coaching school but after Joy and Stan chose to retire they found themselves stuck in a rut, eventually taking in stranger off the street Savannah (Georgia Flood, American Princess) after she came to their door bloodied and frantic.

The next few months see Savannah becoming part of the family (much to the annoyance of the siblings) before she then disappeared with a trace all over again, shortly followed by Joy’s own disappearance. The siblings then begin to wonder whether she could be involved but the police pay more attention to Stan, especially after he appears with a scratch on his face and refuses to answer their questions. As the investigation wears on secrets begin to come out and the Delaney siblings realise how much they are all hiding from each other. In the end though only one person really knows where Joy is and the family must put aside their differences if they ever hope to see her again.

Apples Never Fall has never been my favourite of Moriarty’s novels (although it’s far from my least favourite either) but I was still interested to see how the show would be adapted, especially with the success of her previous book to TV adaptations (Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers). I do think because it’s been nearly two years since I did first read and because the plot never massively stuck with me I did forget some parts of the story and so I did kind of enjoy reliving this mystery again, as though for the first time. Apart from the characters themselves the only thing I really remembered was that Joy didn’t actually die and so this was still enjoyable for me as both a mystery and a direct adaptation. Like I said the book was never a top read for me but I think like with all of Moriarty’s adaptations it ended up being a fun watch overall.

The Delaney family and their relationships with each other were completely central to the series and I really enjoyed the performances from each, some of the characters weren’t exactly how I pictured them when first reading but I think each actor was able to make the character their own. I liked how we got a central episode for each family member, exploring their own history as well as their reactions to Joy’s disappearance and how they then dealt with this. I do think I would have liked if Savannah herself also had a more in-depth episode but on the whole I enjoyed the sibling’s dynamic and their growing suspicion of Stan throughout.

I enjoyed Savannah as a character and I think because it had been so long since I first read I had actually forgotten what her motivations were and whether her intentions were good or bad. In this regard I got to figure out the character alongside the Delaney siblings and I did really like the mystery of this complete stranger planting herself into Joy and Stan’s lives. The situation itself was just bizarre and I think that Flood did a great job at portraying this morally questionable person who could have been either a harmless stranger or someone out to hurt the family. I think even in spite of the end reveal Savannah still had her good qualities and I did really love her relationship with Joy, it was complex and messy and perfect for a mystery drama.

One of the things I do remember liking the most from the book was the Delaney family dynamic and a lot of the flashbacks exploring the sibling’s childhoods and relationships with each other. Despite focussing on Joy’s disappearance Apples Never Fall was never your classic mystery in the same way an Agatha Christie novel would be and instead the book really focussed on the family and their own issues with each other, unfortunately I do think this is one aspect that the TV series failed on. Like I said the mystery was never really at the book’s forefront but I think the show changes this and amps up the criminal elements, forgoing a lot of the character development in the process. We get next to no family flashbacks and most of the stuff with Harry (Giles Matthey, 1BR) and the tennis environment is watered down or omitted completely. Instead the show treats this as your classic mystery thriller when really that was never what the book was about (to me anyway). I loved learning about these characters and their very messy history but so much of that isn’t in the show and I do think it’s a shame.

Overall this was a pretty decent adaptation and whilst Apples Never Fall was never my favourite Moriarty novel I do think that the show did a great job at adapting the story for TV and retelling the narrative in a different way. Whilst the casting overall was good and I enjoyed the performances throughout I wish we’d gotten a little more family focus rather than so much on the mystery of Joy’s disappearance. I did still enjoy watching though and I definitely look forward to whichever of Moriarty’s books gets adapted next (I’m personally crossing my fingers for The Last Anniversary!).

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun, A Review

She’s got a list of resolutions and she’s ready to bite the bullet.

Finlay Donovan is Killing it Review. Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead Review.

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun follows crime writer Finlay Donovan and her Nanny/Accountant Vero as they attempt to put their criminal pasts behind them and focus on a brand new year with no junk food, no writer’s block and hopefully no more dead bodies. The Russian mob however have other ideas, with mobster Feliks reminding the pair that they still have to track down hitman Easyclean for him and that time is running out. Fearing that Easyclean might be a cop the pair decide to enrol is a week long police academy where they will undergo training, attend seminars and most importantly be surrounded by suspects (and protection) at all times. Sniffing out a criminal in a room full of law enforcement is harder than it looks however, especially with Detective Nick Anthony flirting at every chance he can get. Can Finlay track down her hitman, finish her ending and get the guy all in one week or will real life and fiction roll into one once again, causing madness and mayhem for Finlay wherever she steps?

It’s been a little over a year since I last tuned into this series (sorry about that Finlay) and so I did have to refresh myself on some of the smaller details, especially all of the stuff with Easyclean and the Russian mob. It was fun to be back though and I really do enjoy the crime/comedy combo here and how Finlay and Vero get themselves into the most crazy of situations. The way Finlay’s life also mirrors her own writing is brilliantly meta and in this book especially I liked how Finlay’s relationship with Nick was constantly compared to that of her own fictional heroine’s.

This book saw Finlay and Vero tasked with tracking down Easyclean’s identity or risk their own lives and I really loved the pair going undercover at the police academy to sniff out a dirty cop, it felt like the most risky thing we’ve seen from Finlay so far. Surrounded by literal police officers and even possibly dating one, Finlay really had to be careful here to not expose herself in the process and I loved that constant fear throughout. The relationships between Finlay and Feliks and then Finlay and Nick are both very interesting and I can’t wait to see where both of these storylines go and whether Finlay will ever really be free from her new criminal life.

The police training academy made for a fantastic setting here and I loved seeing Finlay and Vero snooping out the fellow cops in-between taking classes and seminars. Having all of your suspects in one confined place really helps boost the drama and tension and I really enjoyed going from character to character and trying to work out who the guilty party was. The added touch of the competition with the other classmates and the information on different aspects of policing was also really nice and I loved the podcaster couple as well as Mrs Haggerty’s expanded role. The whole thing almost mirrored a university or college campus setting (just with more cops and murder) and I really loved the vibes throughout.

Overall this was another fun instalment in the Finlay Donovan series and I loved the police academy setting and the undercover aspects. The hunt for Easyclean really heated up here and I had fun trying to work out who the culprit was in a room full of police officers. I continue to love the crime/comedy combo here and how Finlay uses her writing to her advantage in increasingly tricky situations. With a real shocker of an ending I already can’t wait for book four and hopefully I don’t wait as long to read this time!

Swarm, A Review

Stan Correct.

Swarm follows Drea Greene (Dominique Fishback), a young and socially awkward woman who lives with her best friend and foster sister Marissa (Chloe Bailey), spending most of her days obsessing with world famous pop singer Ni’Jah (Nirine S. Brown). Despite not having a job and being in debt Drea regularly spends all of her money on Ni’Jah tickets, maxing out several credit cards in the process. She intends to surprise Marissa with tickets for her Birthday but Marissa’s boyfriend Khalid (Damson Idris) learns of her plans and purposely suggests a road trip instead. This puts a wedge between the two friends and Drea goes out to get drunk, ignoring Marissa’s frantic texts when she learns of Khalid’s cheating and overdoses.

Devastated, Drea then leaves home and begins travelling the world, heading for the Ni’Jah concert and making several pit stops along the way. In her crazed obsession with the singer she then begins targeting anyone who makes any negative comments, trawling twitter for trolls as her latest victims. In the end will Drea ever get to the golden Ni’Jah concert or will her journey have consequences for all involved and end in a bloody mess?

Swarm was such a surprisingly brilliant watch and going into this I wasn’t sure quite what to expect. I remember back in March ’23 when it first came out people were raving but when I actually sat down to watch I didn’t know much about the plot, just that there’d be a lot of murder involved (which of course I love). In the end though Swarm turned out to be a brilliant take on the stan culture and how we idolise celebrities to an almost dangerous point. Following Drea’s murder journey made for a completely gripping watch and as the body count got higher and higher I truly had no idea what was going to happen next.

Swarm very much mirrors the real life obsessions many people have with celebrities, especially singers, and I liked how the series explored the toxic fan culture of idolising such people. Ni’Jah is an obvious parody of Beyoncé and a lot of the events throughout mirror the singer’s real life career, a move that I think was very much intentional on the writer’s part. Whilst Drea and her murder spree weren’t based on any one person in particular I do think a lot of the stuff that happens here isn’t too far off from reality, there are certain fans out there who get hella mad when you bash their idol. Through Drea we got an insight into this crazy world of being a stan and how your entire life revolves around this one person. Some of the story here is obviously hammed up for drama but seeing this crazed fan killing anyone who speaks out against Ni’Jah, honestly I can see it happening.

Drea was such a brilliant character and Fishback was a marvel in the lead role. We really got to see her explore the darker side of obsession here and in the weirdest way Drea completely came into her own on her murder journey. Across the seven episodes we saw her go from bumbling wallflower to full on psychopath and I truly enjoyed every single second, Drea was definitely someone I wouldn’t want to cross. I really loved the almost comical aspect of Drea’s obsession and every time she asked .who’s your favourite artist’ you knew shit was about to go down. This is definitely one of those roles you can really have a lot of fun with and Fishback was nothing short of brilliant.

The penultimate episode of Swarm switches things up and acts as a ‘real world’ true crime documentary, following Detective Loretta Greene as she pieces everything together and goes after the ‘real’ Drea. We then dive into Drea’s own childhood and her messy history with her foster family and how a lot of this effected her behaviour in the present, exploring the case from every angle. I really loved this aspect of the show and how it treated the rest of the series as the dramatized events of the already established documentary, giving the whole thing a very meta feel. Greene made for a really compelling character and I loved following her across the various murder scenes as she spoke to those involved, eventually piecing everything together and finding Drea. I will say the episode came at a weird time and I think it effected the pacing of the finale but at the same time having it any earlier might have spoilt some of the murders to come…

Overall I really enjoyed this one and I loved the running commentary of toxic stan culture and the parodies of Beyoncé and her fanbase. Dominique Fishback was absolutely phenomenal as Drea and her obsessive personality, murderous habits and general awkwardness made for such a compelling lead character. A wild journey from start to finish with some impressive guest stars along the way, Swarm was a brilliant watch and such a fun vibe.

Mean Girls (2024), A Review

Plastic is Forever.

The 2024 Musical adaptation of Mean Girls follows the previously home-schooled Cady Heron (Angourie Rice, The Last Thing He Told Me) as she moves from Kenya to the US, attending high school for the first time in her life. On her first day Cady struggles with fitting in, befriending fellow outcasts Janis (Auliʻi Cravalho) and Damien (Jaquel Spivey) and also developing a crush on fellow classmate Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney). Cady also meets ‘The Plastics’- Karen Shetty (Avantika, Senior Year), Gretchen Wieners (Bebe Wood) and Regina George (Reneé Rapp, The Sex Lives of College Girls)– a trio of uber popular girls who run the school with an iron first and generate fear and envy wherever they step.

Intrigued by Cady the trio invite her to eat lunch with them, with Janis urging Cady to get dirt and report back. Soon enough this turns into a full-on sabotage mission and Cady is tasked with going undercover and destroying Regina from within. Popularity can be seductive however and Cady begins to love her seat at the popular table, spending less and less time with Janis and Damien as a result. Will Cady go full plastic in her mission or will she stop and find herself before all hell breaks lose and she becomes the worst version of herself?

It seems to have been trending recently that many people didn’t actually know this remake of Mean Girls was based off the Broadway musical and would therefore have songs in it, leading to some pretty dramatic reactions online and even some cinema walk-outs. I don’t know if it’s just because I’m vaguely into theatre and knew of the musical beforehand (haven’t seen it but desperately want to) but I thought it was pretty obvious it was a musical? Granted the film didn’t exactly advertise it as such, which is a whole other discussion, but the songs in the trailer, pretty musical cast and the musical note in the poster all seemed like dead giveaways to me. Moving on though I did really enjoy the songs here and even though I haven’t seen the original production in person I did listen to the soundtrack beforehand to catch myself up. Now I will admit there’s a definite difference between the original and this movie remake but theatre and film are two very different mediums and so you’re never going to have the same kind of experience, especially since not all of the cast are trained musical performers (more on that later…). For what it is though I think this film did a decent job at both retelling the original story and putting their own spin on the songs, Mean Girls the remake isn’t perfect but I did still have a lot of fun whilst watching.

It’s been 20 years since the release of the original Mean Girls and as iconic and timeless as the film is I also think it’s interesting to set the characters against a more modern timeframe and see how much they’ve changed and adapted in the two decades past. For one thing we’ve come a long way since 2004 in terms of sexual and race representation on screen as well as the mass rise of social media. The remake features a lot more diversity in its casting, outwardly open LGBT characters and some more socially acceptable insults, which did unfortunately mean a lot of the iconic lines from the original had to be cut or changed. We also saw the plastics going up against the terrors of social media and I did like the media montages throughout and how this was played in to Regina’s downfall and Cady’s uprising. Mean Girls was a film that didn’t necessarily have to be remade but all the same I did enjoy this more modern spin and seeing how things have changed from the original and how they’ve also stayed the same.

Angourie Rice as Cady has definitely been trending as of late and not particularly for the right reasons, it does have to be said that her casting is a little bit questionable. Now don’t get me wrong I really do love Rice, I loved her in Mare of Easttown, Spiderman and The Last Thing He Told Me and acting wise I thought she was a pretty great Cady. She really nailed the socially awkward side of the character in a way that was different from Lohan’s original portrayal and you could definitely tell this Cady had been home-schooled all of her life. All of this stopped however when she had to sing. Again, don’t get me wrong Rice isn’t a terrible singer by any means but when you put her next to the likes of Reneé Rapp and Auliʻi Cravalho then she always going to sound not as good. The comparisons between the movie singing and the musical singing have already been trending online and when you do put them side by side there is such a difference, which really does bring the casting into question. I just think the film should have cast a stronger singer, especially in the lead role because it is a musical after all and the singing should and does take precedent over the acting.

Janis and Damian completely stole the show here, both in terms of singing and performance and I really enjoyed their updated spin on the iconic duo. Like I said above this remake was a lot more sexually diverse so the pair were allowed to be openly gay and a lot more iconic unlike the original were it was just hinted at. Both also gave brilliant singing performances and I loved all of their songs, it only makes me want to see the original musical more and more. Acting as almost the narrators, the pair lead both Cady as us as the audience through the film and I really loved their duo chemistry and general vibe and appearance, this was very much a modernised Janis and Damien.

I think when the trailers/promotional images for this remake were first released a lot of people were concerned about the new appearances of The Plastics, particularly their clothing, and how they gave a very different vibe to the original 2004 trio. Of course with twenty years having passed clothing and fashion have changed and people don’t necessarily dress in high class labels anymore. I for one wasn’t really too bothered about what they were wearing, more with how they’d work within the story but performance wise I did really enjoy this main trio. Obviously I was already familiar with and obsessed with Rapp and she make for a killer Regina, I think her and McAdams played the character in their own styles and we got to see how popularity and meanness has changed from then to now, it was quite interesting. As for Bebe Wood and Avantika as Gretchen and Karen respectively I was similarly impressed and think that they played the sidekick roles well. Karen’s song was definitely one of my favourites and I liked her comedic timing and I also loved Gretchen’s

Overall this musical remake of Mean Girls definitely had its ups and downs and whilst it wasn’t perfect I still had a hell of a good time watching. The original film is always going to be iconic but I did enjoy some of the songs here as well as seeing the characters in a more updated setting. Rice’s singing abilities did come into question but aside from this the rest of the performances were all great and I especially loved Janis and Damian. It was never going to beat the og Mean Girls but as a musical adaptation this was a lot of fun as long as you knew it was a musical in the first place!

The Lincoln Lawyer- Season 2, A Review

LA’s hottest defense attorney just found a new gear.

The Lincoln Lawyer Season 1 Review.

The second season of The Lincoln Lawyer follows Mickey Haller (Manuel García-Rulfo) who has since gained a lot of media attention because of the events of the first season, massively increasing his caseload as a result. His latest trial takes a personal stake however when Lisa Trammell (Lana Parrilla, Why Women Kill), a woman he has recently began seeing, is accused of murdering real estate developer Mitchell Bondurant. Lisa is a chef and owner of a small restaurant which Bondurant had been attempting to tear down in the name of gentrification, leading to protests and an eventual restraining order against Lisa as a result. Taking on her case, Lisa is adamant she didn’t murder anybody but an eye witness places her at the scene and blood and DNA is found in her home, leading to an immediate arrest. Facing off in the trial against DA Andy Freemann (Yaya DaCosta), Mickey will have his work cut out for him if he wants to prove Lisa’s innocence and once again come out on top. But with a mountain of evidence against him can Mickey pull out all the stops and win or will his short lived fame end in tears for everyone involved?

This time around for season two I did actually read the correct novel and so it was fun to be able to contrast and compare the original text with the TV adaptation. I think aside from some changes with Lisa’s character most of the trial process remained intact but this is one of the very few times I do actually prefer the TV show to the novel. I just think on the whole legal thrillers in book form aren’t really for me, I find them a bit long-winded and these books especially like to throw around their complicated legal jargon. I do enjoy the characters here (an impressive feat considering they’re all lawyers) and I will still read the next book to be adapted but on the whole this isn’t a book series I will go out of my way to read, I’m just not a massive fan of the genre overall.

I do however really love The Lincoln Lawyer as a TV show, mostly I think because legal dramas are a lot more exciting in the visual medium but also because the characters here feel a lot more fleshed out and I’ve really come to love the office group dynamic. Mickey feels mostly the same from book to TV and I really enjoy García-Rulfo’s performance but the show manages to elevate characters like Lorna (Becki Newton, Tell Me a Story) and Cisco (Angus Sampson) (who are pretty minor in the books) to much more real feeling people and I really loved seeing the wedding planning this season as well as Lorna’s journey to becoming a fully fledged lawyer. The show also brings Izzy (Jazz Raycole) into the mix, another character I love, and on the whole here the team feels a lot more like a family rather than just legal co-workers.

Like I said above one of the only major changes between the book and series was the character of Lisa and I have to say apart from the book’s ending I much preferred the role here, definitely helped along by my love of Lana Parrilla. I liked the initial chemistry between Mickey and Lisa and how the trial then progressed although I will say I was surprised the opposition never tried to use the romantic relationship against Mickey (especially since they weren’t involved like this in the novel). Regardless Parrilla gave an impressive performance, balancing the vulnerability of Lisa with her moments of anger that made you question her guilt. I was never quite sure if the series was going to have the same ending and whilst the do vary slightly I did like TV Lisa’s ending, especially that final reveal.

Overall I really enjoyed this second season of The Lincoln Lawyer and I continue to love this show even if I’m not the biggest fan of the books. Season two saw Mickey defending Lisa Trammell against murder charges and I loved the dynamic between the pair as well as the trial process and mounting tension throughout. I do think legal dramas work much better in TV form and so it was exciting to see the evidence built against Lisa (even though the two did have slightly different endings and end results).

Fool Me Once, A Review

Death follows you.

The Stranger Review. The Woods Review. The Innocent Review. Safe Review. Stay Close Review. Shelter Review.

Fool me Once follows Maya Stern (Michelle Keegan), a former solider whose life is forever changed when she witnesses her husband Joe’s (Richard Armitage) murder right in front of her during a robbery gone wrong in the park. Since then she has tried to move on with her life and look after Daughter Lily but when Joe then reappears on the nanny-cam she begins to question everything about his death. Speaking to DS Sami Kierce (Adeel Akhtar, Murder Mystery) who is still actively investigating the case, it is discovered that the gun used to kill Joe was also used to kill Maya’s own Sister Claire (Natalie Anderson) only a few months prior to Joe’s shooting. Claire was also seemingly killed in a robbery gone wrong but now Maya begins to think there is more to the story and something connecting the two murders. Reaching out to her in-laws and Joe’s Mother Judith (Joanna Lumely, Motherland), Maya hopes to get more information but is coldly shut down, making her realise how little she knows about the family. Realising there is something much bigger going on here Maya must investigate both Joe’s past and her own if she wants answers, plunging her into a world of uncertainty that she may not return from.

Harlan Coben has absolutely done it again with his brilliant storytelling and I really loved Fool Me Once, it’s definitely one of his better shows. The main mystery really hooked me in and as the series went on it only became more and more intriguing, resulting in a well-crafted mystery with one hell of a twist at the end. It seems as well that I’m not alone in this opinion and I’ve really enjoyed seeing everybody else’s reactions on social media, especially the numerous impressions of Maya throughout. This has definitely been an entertaining kind of watch and Coben has really cemented himself as a campy, guilty pleasure kind of watch, his mysteries are just so much fun.

Harlan Coben has proved himself to be such a master of the domestic thriller genre and I love how he takes these very ordinary people and puts them into life-changing situations. Now onto his seventh series with Netflix (as well as Shelter which was on Prime) I love the usual set up of these people discovering secrets within the communities they live in and realising that everybody has something to hide. Here Maya realises that people keep dying around her and everything is connected one way or another. We then get the dual storylines of both Maya and the police investigating and I loved how everything was woven together, it was so clever.

I really liked how Fool Me Once was able to play around with the perceptions of its characters, exploring the ‘hero’ and ‘villain’ arc so to speak and showing how sometimes we have to make the worst of choices in the best of situations. Despite being our protagonist and the show’s ‘hero’ Maya herself had made some choices in the past that could definitely be taken in the wrong context and a lot of her character arc was trying to fix past mistakes. In the same way Joe was seen as this really good thing in Maya’s life and the thing she was searching for but then as we dug a little deeper his true form revealed itself and then everything changed. Fool Me Once was definitely a series about tough choices and how people aren’t always what they seem and I really liked some of the slow reveals here, they completely changed how you saw some of the characters overall.

Overall I really enjoyed Fool Me Once and it’s definitely one of my favourite of Coben’s many series with Netflix. The first episode set up a really interesting mystery and this only got more and more intriguing and the episodes went on and Maya tried to unravel everything. A multi-layered story with one hell of a twist at the end, Fool Me Once was yet another of Coben’s greats and I can’t wait to see which of his books get adapted next.

Saltburn, A Review

We’re all about to lose our minds.

Saltburn follows Oxford scholarship student Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) who after struggling to fit in with the rest of his classmates becomes enamoured with the affluent and popular Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), who takes pity on him when he hears of his lower class lifestyle and parents’ substance abuse issues. Over the year the pair grow a friendship and Felix then invites Oliver to spend the summer with him in his family home Saltburn. Arriving at Saltburn Oliver then meets Felix’s parents Lady Elspeth (Rosamund Pike, I Care a Lot) and Sir James (Richard E Grant, Persuasion) and Sister Venetia (Alison Oliver) as well as the various strays the family have picked up along the way including Cousin Farley (Archie Madekwe) and ‘Poor Dear Pamela (Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman). Over the course of the summer Oliver then becomes very much part of the family, beginning to enjoy his new higher class of living, nothing lasts forever though and soon enough the truth must come out about Oliver whether he likes it or not. Things are happening at Saltburn and one thing’s for sure, this will be a summer nobody ever forgets.

This film received some massive hype online, especially on tiktok (as a result I did see some mild spoilers) and so I was pretty excited to dive in and see what all of the fuss was about. I think the main thing people were talking about was how ‘crazy’ the storyline was and if I’m being honest I was expecting something a little wilder? There were definitely some bizzare scenes but I didn’t find Saltburn any stranger than your average thriller, not to knock its quality at all but from what I’d heard I was expecting something a lot worse. Storyline wise though I did still enjoy this one and loved Oliver’s journey and the general vibes of the writing. I can definitely see why this film gained so much attention and with some impressive star quality attached it’s definitely been a highlight of 2023 for me.

Saltburn was such a wild kind of film and I really loved the mad vibes throughout, starting off with the almost dark academia feel in the Oxford setting and leading to the titular Saltburn house which definitely had a classic literature feel. The wealthy family and elaborate parties all seen through the eyes of Oliver the outsider allowed for this really over the top effect and I loved the progression of the story as Oliver got closer and closer to the Cattons. It was then Oliver’s obsession with Felix and the wealth he possessed that really drove this narrative forward and it was interesting to see how he wormed his way into the family, changing himself to best suit whoever he happened to be with at that moment in time. Really posing himself as this ‘poor little underprivileged boy’, Oliver had a real way of manipulating people and his journey was kind of iconic? I will admit I wish the film had been a lit bit gayer, because I definitely got that impression from the trailers, but overall Saltburn was definitely all kinds of iconic.

Felix and his family were definitely one of this film’s highlights and I really loved the group chemistry between them as they all played that very rich person out of touch persona. Their almost fascination with Oliver at his lack of wealth or status allowed for some great comedic moments and I just loved the dry humour throughout and amazing performances all around, especially that of Pike. Like I said above Oliver was really able to worm his way into the family dynamic here and it was interesting to see how each member responded to his charms and how he used that in his eventual long play.

Overall I really enjoyed watching Saltburn and loved the general crazy vibes of the film. I will say I was expecting something a little weirder based off audience reactions but on the whole I had a good time with this one and appreciated the film for stepping outside of some boxes. Keoghan was fabulous as Oliver and I really loved his story, dynamic with the rest of the family and of course that ending. This was a real iconic kind of watch with so many standout scenes and characters and I’d definitely recommend this to anyone, it’s the kind of film you just can’t miss.

The Woman in the Wall, A Review

Something’s keeping Lorna awake.

Not to be confused with The Woman in the Window.

The Woman in the Wall follows Lorna Brady (Ruth Wilson, See How They Run), a woman with a long history of trauma based sleepwalking dating back to her time spent at the Magdalene Laundries when she was a young girl. Lorna had her child taken away and has never seen her since, leading to a life of misery where she and the other women all struggle to cope and carry on with their day to day lives, with group leader Niamh (Philippa Dunne, Motherland) trying to petition the state to recognise they were in a Laundry in the first place. Lorna then receives a cryptic note telling her ‘I know what happened to you child’, leading to a failed meet up where Lorna then gets drunk and awakens to a dead body in her living room, causing her to panic and hide the woman within her own walls.

Meanwhile Dublin based police Detective Colman Akande (Daryl McCormack, Bad Sisters) is investigating the potential murder of Priest Father Percy (Stephen Brennan), who was responsible for running the Laundries and therefore has a lot of enemies. His inquiries eventually lead him to Lorna and her friends, especially after Lorna torches Father Percy’s car during a sleepwalking episode. After the woman in Lorna’s walls is then also revealed to be Aoife Cassidy (Fiona Bell), a nun who also worked at the Laundries, everything starts to click into place and Lorna and Colman realise that there’s a much bigger picture at hand. Can the pair get to the bottom of the missing children, the body in the walls and Father Percy’s murder all before it’s too late or will Lorna’s trauma stay with her for the rest of her life?

The Woman in the Wall was such an emotionally powerful story, exploring years of trauma and hurt through the lens of a gripping crime drama. Lorna herself was such a compelling character and her own history with the laundries and its traumatic aftermath really drove the narrative here, both in her quest for justice but also in her attempts to cover up her crimes. Initially focussing on Lorna trying to hide the titular body in her walls we then really began to dive into the laundries and the child-trafficking elements as Colman realises that he too was technically bought and paid for. Together the pair then work to get to the heart of the corruption in an incredibly moving story and I really enjoyed watching this one, it was the perfect blend of emotional, mystery and intrigue.

The Laundries themselves really weren’t something I was familiar with before watching this series and I think it just goes to show how much pain and suffering can go on in the world with the rest of us completely oblivious to it all. I’ve obviously done some Googling since and it really is shocking what these young women were subjected to, all over the world and like the show said as late as 1996. I always enjoy dramas that incorporate true events into the narrative and the blending together of said history with a modern day crime drama was brilliantly done here, making for an informative and suspenseful watch.

On top of the emotional aspects, the mystery here was brilliantly gripping and I loved the main mystery of the titular woman in the walls as well as Father Percy’s murder and the later exploration of the child-trafficking. In typical drama fashion this was a story with a lot of moving parts and I liked the progression across the six episodes as everything did start to come together and finally make sense. Lorna was somebody incredibly troubled by her past and at first it did seem like she’d done all of these terrible things but through some proper investigating on both parts she and Colman were eventually able to get to the truth and I really enjoyed every single second.

Overall I really enjoyed watching The Woman in the Wall and I loved the blend of typical crime drama with some real emotional (and true) moments. The focus on the laundries and the emotional impact made for such an interesting watch and seeing what these women had to go through was nothing short of mortifying. Wilson and McCormack both gave great performances and I really loved their characters and growing friendship between them. Another fab BBC drama from start to finish, this one was a real emotional roller-coaster and I cannot recommend enough.