Back off: Nicole Kidman is back in HBO for a new psychological thriller film

I miss Big Little Lies, Although Meryl Streep joined Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman’s show about Desperate Housewives of Monterey, he couldn’t make the second season as strong or addictive as the first I still cross my fingers Season three will turn into more than just rumors.

I approached The Undoing, HBO’s new limited series starring Kidman, hoping to fix Big Little Lies, and David E. Kelley’s psychological thriller didn’t let me down. Kelly was also responsible for conditioning BLL. Kidman is repeating her role as executive producer. There is a murder that needs to be solved. And just like BLL, The Undoing is based on a novel, in which case, Jan Hanf Corelets you should know.

In the six-episode show, which premieres Sunday, Kidman swaps the rugged coastline of Northern California for an exclusive New York’s Upper East Side. The Academy Award-winning actress plays Grace Fraser, a successful therapist and core of Manhattan who has a private Pilates instructor and loves to take long meditative walks around town. She is married to Jonathan (Hugh Grant), a pediatric oncologist. The couple have a teenage son, Henry (Noah Gobi from A quiet place And Honey Boy), the kind of finely decorated homes in town only two doctors can afford.

Part of what drew me to this story, other than the fatal ingredients, was seeing the characters in the pre-COVID-19 world. They talk to friends and acquaintances without a mask or distance. Going to the gym is a stress-free activity. Commuting to work is still a thing.

There is also the luxurious component. Grace’s father (Donald Sutherland) owns an apartment on Fifth Avenue overlooking Central Park. Fraser Band is invited to lavish black parties. Kidman has a line of long, colorful coats to even envy Scandal’s Olivia Pope.

The couple’s illusion of the perfect life unravel when a classmate’s mother appears murdered. This is a show the less he knows, the better. Let’s just say the plot has thrilling ups and downs: paternity tests, betrayal, sexy police investigators, sly lawyers, sociopaths, JMW Turner boards, and even a hint of haunted house.

“You’re constantly guessing everyone, their behavior and what they’re saying. Nobody says exactly what it’s meant,” Kidman said during a hypothetical press conference about the show on October 14.

Director Susan Bier plays Hitchcockian’s elements. The Danish director is behind Bird box And The Night Manager has a purposeful and personal way of framing characters and events, without hindrance. It left its signature character throughout the show, whether that’s by photographing an entrance to a New York criminal court building from the perspective of a bird reminiscent of the north next to the northwest or a particular phone call looking out almost outside the rear window.

Kidman is ready to take many close-ups for this show. She is totally believable as a professional, sophisticated, and independent upper-class woman who struggles with so many hateful feelings and truths thrown at her constantly.

“Everything that happened in 2020 has now kind of put a different lens on the series,” the actress and producer said during the press conference. “Seeing these worlds disintegrate is a wonderful thing for people. The idea of ​​being able to buy your justice and have this privilege is that they shouldn’t be getting it.”

You may not be able to resist the temptation to compare the way Fraser lived in the Upper East Side with the way another family lived in East Harlem. Or how Frasers can provide the best attorney possible, Haley Fitzerald (Noma Dumezweni.) But even with a massive class divide, you can only devour The Undoing as a pure runaway TV.

This is another one of those mystery novels that turned into shows – like BLL, Sharp Objects, or Little Fires Everywhere – with just the right amount of gloom, shock and strong, intelligent female leadership. It’s an adaptation that prompts you to carry on with your binge-eating fits until you discover the identity of the killer, a journey that brings the right dose of unpredictability.