JP Delaney aligns effective thrillers by playing without great subtlety on the masks he himself uses as a writer. One would have hoped that its perverse mechanics would have been well served by director Lisa Brühlmann, who did wonders with the cheeky series Killing Eve. His adaptation of The Girl Beforeluxurious at will, unfortunately lacks subtlety.
A BBC One heavyweight, this four-episode miniseries has an enviable aesthetic. This is magnified by the architectural visions of the enigmatic Edward Monkford (icy David Oyelowo), who gives up the rental of his magnificent intelligent house to whoever wants to live in his own way, some 200 rules at stake. Two time lines intertwine: the first loop attaches to Emma (Jessica Plummer, feverish), the other to Jane (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, solid), two young women with Siamese profiles, both weakened by trauma , and chosen by Monkford to inhabit the abode made splendour. The process is easy, but it turns out to be very confusing.
However, there is something mischievously wrong in the way Edward, under cover of moral and aesthetic superiority, which are inseparable with him, rules the life of those around him. Still, we are stunned by the formidable accumulation of red flags, and especially the gross multiplication of lessons of consent which weigh down the plot. And even if we take pleasure in penetrating the mysteries of this thriller, we have to admit that the exquisite finesse prized by Monkford is conspicuous by its absence.
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