The Citizen (KZN)

A most scintillat­ing series

HUMOROUS THRILLER: YOU’RE LIKELY TO FALL IN LOVE WITH THE WORLD’S CRAZIEST KILLER

- Hayden Horner

It has a Rotten Tomatoes critics rating of 96% and audience score of 90%.

What happens when Phoebe Waller-Bridge, one of the hottest screenplay writers around today (Fleabag), adapts the equally hot best-selling Luke Jennings thriller novel (Codename Villanelle) to screen?

You get a fiery serving of catand-mouse investigat­ions, assassins, high fashion, stunning locations and heart-stopping viewing that is BBC America’s Killing Eve series.

Sarah Barnett, president of BBC America, said on the channel website that “Killing Eve stands out in a sea of scripted stories as refreshing­ly entertaini­ng and great fun”.

And so it is – if not somewhat gruesome in parts.

It centres around Eve (Sandra Oh), a somewhat dowdy and unassuming low-level security worker with Britain’s MI5 agency, who has a secret desire to be a spy.

On the opposite side of the spectrum is highly capricious and vicious assassin Villanelle (played by Jodie Comer) who enjoys the life of luxury that her violent job allows her.

When Eve links a string of high-level murders to Villanelle, her agency tasks her with tracking down the killer – a job that results in the two women becoming obsessed with each other as they are thrust into a macabre and gruesome game of cat-and-mouse that will leave you frantic for the next episode.

In addition to being one of the best female-led series in recent years, Killing Eve’s lead actors Oh (Grey’s Anatomy) and Comer (My Mad Fat Diary) have also scooped some big awards.

These included Comer getting her first-ever Emmy award this year for Outstandin­g Lead Actress in a Drama Series and again at the recent British Academy Television Awards.

And while you may not be as familiar with British actress Comer (Villanelle) as you are with Oh, she breathes such deliciousl­y dark life into the Villanelle character that you can be forgiven for falling in love with the world’s craziest killer. Speaking in multiple accents and languages and slipping and sliding into various personalit­ies with an ease only seen with big-screen legends such as Meryl Streep, Tilda Swinton Davis and Cate Blanchet – Comer definitely steals the show.

Already in its second scintillat­ing season and with a Rotten Tomatoes critics rating of 96% and an audience score of 90% Killing Eve is well worth your time and can be streamed on iTunes, YouTube andAmazon.

Killing Eve stands out in a sea of scripted stories

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