BEHIND HER EYES
NETFLIX, WEDNESDAY 17 FEBRUARY
This new six-part mini-series comes from the producers of The Crown, but it couldn’t be more different. Behind Her Eyes is based on the 2017 best-selling novel by Sarah Pinborough and is a full-on psychological thriller with a twisty mystery plot, glamorous starry cast, raunchy scenes, a thoroughly intriguing love triangle situation, and a late-series turn that could barely be more bonkers. Strap yourselves in, it’s going to be a wild ride…
ILLICIT ENCOUNTERS
The series does start out as a fairly conventional relationship thriller. Louise (Simona Brown) is a single mother in London, living with her demanding little boy, while her estranged ex has shacked up with a new partner. She works as a secretary at a psychiatric practice and is living a pretty unremarkable, rather dull life. Until, that is, she meets a random charming hot dude called David (Tom Bateman) one night at a bar when her friend doesn’t show up. They snog, but it turns out David is married, and worse – he also happens to be the doctor who arrives as Louise’s new boss the day after their illicit encounter.
STRANGE TURNS
Matters get more complicated when Louise and David end up getting a lot closer, and Louise meets David’s wife Adele (Eve Hewson). She’s a weirdly needy woman who’s desperate to make friends with Louise, as she’s feeling lonely and isolated ever since she and husband David moved to London to make a new start in their (clearly flawed) relationship. Through flashbacks, we soon get the sense that David and Adele are a tad toxic together, especially when we learn about Adele’s time in an institution where she formed an unlikely, but key, friendship with a young Scottish lad called Rob (Robert Aramayo). To say much more would spoil the fun, but be warned – the climactic narrative developments are a lot to digest, and you may just find it all a bit too ridiculous. But if you embrace the madness, it’s a fun journey into the bizarre. ★★★★