‘Queen’s Gambit’ is one of the best shows of 2020
Even in a year as bleak as 2020, the right TV showcan come along and happily surprise you.
Smart, enthralling and a little sexy, “The Queen’s Gambit” has jumped to the No. 1 spot on Netflix in the U.S. for good reason – it’s just that good. Even if it’s about chess.
Based on the novel by Walter Tevis, “Queen’s” (streaming now) follows the rise of fictional chess prodigy Beth Harmon (a stunning Anya Taylor-joy), a Kentucky orphan in the 1960s who learns the game from a janitor (Bill Camp) in her orphanage’s basement. As a teen, she makes her way onto the international chess circuit, traveling the globe and handily beating men twice her age. She also spends that time battling addiction, a much harder fight for Beth than any chess match.
Thanks to Taylor-joy’s performance, a strong supporting cast and the right balance of trials and triumph, “Queen’s” is a surprisingly gripping adventure (yes, a chess adventure) that still manages to find levity and happiness. It’s a show that seems tailor-made for our joy-starved minds in a somber modern world. It might make even the most skeptical among us take dust-covered chess sets out of the basement
The series begins with Beth as a quiet 9-year-old who has just been orphaned by a car crash and is delivered to a depressing orphanage that hands out tranquilizers like candy to keep the kids docile. She quickly discovers that stockpiling them, and taking multiple doses a few nights a week, leads to exciting highs. One day, she walks in on the janitor playing chess against himself in the basement, and is drawn to the game. He teaches her the rules and is awed by her natural talent. She spends her nights popping pills and imagining chess games on the ceiling of her dormitory, one of many arresting visuals in “Queen’s” over the course of its seven episodes.
As a teenager, Beth is adopted by the Wheatleys, an unhappy married couple. While the husband spends weeks on “business trips” out West, Beth gradually bonds with her new mother, Alma (Marielle Heller), a functional alcoholic. Beth wins local chess tournaments, and after Alma discovers how much money her new daughter can make, she acts as Beth’s agent and manager, pulling her out of school so they can travel to national and international tournaments.
Written and directed by Scott Frank, an Oscar nominee for his “Logan” script, “Queen’s” is electrifying. Frank’s direction is full of quick cuts, artful framing and beautiful shots. Paired with the superb score, “Queen’s” gives the series’ many chess matches near Olympic tension and gravitas, as exciting as any great sports film.
But “Queen’s” wouldn’t sing without Taylor-joy, who turns in one of the best performances of her already celebrated young career. Her expressive face and even more expressive hand movements are a key part of what makes the chess matches so mesmerizing.
The supporting cast is also terrific, especially Heller as Alma, who acts as both an enabler and support system for her surprisingly smart adopted daughter. Known mostly for her work as a director (“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”), Heller makes Alma so much more than just another disillusioned housewife. Newcomer Moses Ingram, who plays Jolene, Beth’s best friend from the orphanage, also stands out brightly in a limited amount of screen time.