South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Netflix thriller series ends with a shocking head-spinner
I just watched a sleekly ridiculous Netflix six-parter titled “Behind Her Eyes,” and reader, like most love-it-or-hate-it prospects in this world, it’s neither.
It’s both-ish. It’s Noël Coward’s “Design for Living” as revised by Gillian Flynn on a dare. It’s a melange of adultery, “lucid dreaming,” and an overarching cautionary tale about the risks of befriending both your boss (with benefits) and your boss’s apparently unstable wife (no sex but serious intimacy nonetheless).
Even with its problems, I like it. Yes, it feels a bit taffy-pulled into nearly six hours. Its triple axel of shocking reveals in the final episode is both wacky and, in terms of audience sympathies, pretty sad.
But “Behind Her Eyes” is also extremely wellacted. As with many binge prospects of medium quality, after a while you concentrate on the faces, if (and because) they belong to some strong and distinctive actors playing in more than one key.
Sarah Pinborough’s 2017 bestselling novel has been adapted by Steve Lightfoot and Angela LaManna and directed by the Norwegian filmmaker Erik Richter Strand. The book was marketed with its own social media hashtag: #WTFThatEnding.
“Behind Her Eyes” begins straightforwardly enough, with a chance meeting in a London pub between secretary Louise (Simona Brown) and psychiatrist David (Tom Bateman). Their candlelit eyes flash the look of love. Some kissing on the sidewalk, and then David retreats, quickly, looking
like guilt on toast.
The next day at work, Louise learns that David’s the clinic’s new hire, and she’s his secretary. They agree to keep the flirtation confidential, with particular care not to agitate David’s blatantly troubled wife, Adele (Eve Hewson).
But lust wins round after round, and meantime, “Behind Her Eyes” gradually leaks out information about the tragedy in Adele’s past, the death of her parents, and how David saved her. In flashbacks, we see Adele recovering from her trauma at a beautiful rehab institute. We also meet sweet, messed-up Rob (Robert Aramayo), who’s struggling with heroin dependency.
The tentacles of addiction wrap around the narrative, along with night terrors shared by Adele and Louise. Director Strand and his design collaborators invent an artful eyeful of various dream states, owing a bit to Magritte and a bit more to “Alice in Wonderland” — referenced directly in one scene when Louise reads Lewis Carroll to her 7-year-old, played with lovely naturalness by Tyler
Howitt.
As Louise continues her affair with David, she also befriends Adele, again by chance. Adele knows she’s David’s secretary but nothing more. Adele and Louise agree to keep their friendship to themselves. That’s a massive hunk of deception for Louise, and it’s only a question of when everything will get sprung in “Behind Her Eyes.”
Does the series stick the triple axel? Some viewers’ eyes may never stop rolling, while others will find it effectively berserk, though it relies on supernatural developments that end up looking a bit silly on screen. “Behind Her Eyes” isn’t about people, really. It’s about #WTFThatEnding. I liked the journey more than the destination, but then, I don’t skate.
Rating: TV-MA (sex, nudity, language, smoking, drug use)
Running time: Six episodes, approximately five-and-ahalf hours
Where to watch: Now streaming on Netflix.
Selected for their work in the community, FLITE Center of Broward County and The Broward Partnership for the Homeless, Inc. recently were named the Bank of America Neighborhood Builders awardees for Broward County.
The nonprofits will receive a $200,000 grant as part of the award along with a year of leadership training for the executive director and an emerging leader within the organization.
FLITE Center and The Broward Partnership for the Homeless, Inc. also will receive a network of peer organizations around the nation as well as the opportunity to access capital to expand their impacts.
Bank of America has invested over $260 million in 50 communities through Neighborhood Builders since 2004, connecting with over 1,300 nonprofits and assisting upward of 2,600 nonprofit leaders.
“As our communities continue to face a broad spectrum of challenges, primarily brought on by the coronavirus, the Neighborhood Builders program helps nonprofits ensure they have the tools and resources to meet the evolving needs of our local community,” Lori Chevy, the Broward County market president for Bank of America, said in a statement.
“This investment allows us to empower local nonprofits to double down on their efforts in addressing economic mobility,” she said,” and social progress issues in the regions they serve.”
Serving as a multi-purpose resource center for young people, FLITE Center helps individuals through the process of living independently. The Fort Lauderdale-based nonprofit intends to use the funds to provide enhanced employability skills training, permanent employment, paid internships and other opportunities.
FLITE Center picked its
chief program officer, Cara Malave, as its emerging leader.
The Broward Partnership for the Homeless, Inc., which provides the homeless population in Broward County with access to food, plans on using the grant toward creating a workforce development program called Impact Hubs. The program will be centered on transforming homeless shelter environments into a technologically savvy place.
Broward Partnership selected its CEO, Tom Campbell, as its emerging leader. Visit about.bankofamerica.com, flitecenter. org/ and bphi.org/.