Ripley

An absolutely beautiful version of this story. The cinematographer deserves an award for the angles he found, the way he pulls the eyes up in almost every frame, the way the characters are framed by objects, and the choice to shoot the series in black and white really knocks this out of the park. The visuals are so stunning I sometimes briefly lost the storyline because I was considering the choices of the cinematographer and noticing the angle of the light. The symmetry, contrast, and shapes are so beautifully shot. It’s absolutely gorgeous movie-making.

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Beyond the look of it are the story and the characters. I’m pretty sure I saw the version released in the 90s, but the riveting way this version is told made me forget everything I might have remembered. The characters were extremely well-chosen, with one exception: John Malkovich, who, in my mind, can only ever be John Malkovich.

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Incredibly, there is a character in the cast whose presence is even stronger than Andrew Scott’s: Eliot Sumner, the third child of Sting and Trudie Styler, who plays the character Philip Seymour Hoffman played in the 90s version.

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They were chosen to play the part because out of the 200 people who auditioned for it, Eliot was the only person who played the character in an understated way - not brash and loud as the book and Mr. Hoffman defined the character. Such an excellent, unsettling choice! They have an energy that radiates off the screen and they stole every scene they were in. Eliot is also a musician (of course), but I look forward to seeing more of their acting chops.

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This version of the storytelling has been endowed with a lot of nuance with the Caravaggios, the Maine Coon cat, the long, tense stares within tight close-up shots, and the gorgeous apartments and locations.

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The tension in every episode is palpable and I found myself wondering at what point did he decide to do what he did? Was it in New York at the sumptuous going-away dinner? Was it the moment he saw how Dickie was living? The moment Dickie asked him to leave? Andrew Scott plays this character so convincingly that we don’t know for sure. He blank psychotic face is very difficult to read.

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The wikipedia page for Ripley says that the story might continue into a second season. While I would love to see the lead character get what he deserves, it would be a shame for the show to run beyond the boundaries defined by author Patricia Highsmith in her 1955 novel. It would push the story into uncomfortable territory in which we see a bad guy getting away with bad stuff over and over.