There are always two sides to the story - mine and yours, which means that one of us is not telling the truth. This idea is the backbone of the new Netflix miniseries “His and Hers”, which already in the first frame vividly depicts what awaits the viewer - a town with secrets and the murder of a woman.
Premiering on January 8th of this year, it places journalist Ana (Tessa Thompson) and her (ex) husband and police officer Jack (Jon Bernthal), who investigate the sudden murder of fellow citizen Rachel (Jamie Teasdale).
As they try to solve the mystery and catch the killer before he strikes again (and there will be more throughout the series), the main characters' emotions often overwhelm their common sense. Their reconstructions of events and their versions of the truth often diverge, and beneath the surface lie raw feelings and memories.
Although Thompson and Bernthal convincingly carry the series with great and quite intimate acting, they excel alongside them. Sunita mani, Pablo Schreiber, Rebecca Rittenhouse i Crystal Fox.
However, the six-episode miniseries format is not new to the streaming giant. In fact, in recent years, Netflix has been leaning towards adapting thrillers, especially those from the best-selling books list. The director of this film is well aware of this. William Oldroyd.
Therefore, “His and Hers” is no exception and is truly a series adaptation of the author's novel. Elis FiniAnd it's pretty faithful to the original work.
WE HAVE “TWIN PEAKS” AT HOME
The anxious and slightly claustrophobic atmosphere that permeates every corner of the town struck by a great tragedy is irresistibly reminiscent of the cult series "Twin Peaks" by the American director. David Lynch.
The way the story is presented is somewhat reminiscent of his film “Fire Walk With Me,” which summarizes the last days of the tragic heroine Laura Palmer.
Oldroyd referenced it somewhat, and perhaps unconsciously, which in itself isn't the worst thing that could have happened to this adaptation.
However, those who are more “experienced” in series and media will recognize other inspirations such as “Mare of Easttown”, “Big Little Lies” or the cult “Sharp Objects”. Of course, the British writer of detective novels is also indispensable. Agatha Christie.
Structurally, “His and Hers” successfully adapts a 300-page novel into six episodes, without major rip-offs from the original material.
Each episode of this realization of imagination is like a (semi) separate entity, which collapses like a house of cards in the last few minutes when the viewer is taken aback.
The mystery, as such, with all its flaws, is solidly packaged, although it is littered with numerous twists and turns that would perhaps "break" another work.
The script creaks in places, but, miraculously, it always lands on its feet. Its trump card - dark soap opera - is brought to the fore, because Oldroyd knows very well that the attention span of the modern viewer is quite "damaged".
MISUNDERSTANDING THE ESSENCE OF THE MYSTERY
And here we come to the first, bigger problem of the series.
The creators expect too much from the viewer to assume everything about the main and supporting characters. They rely too much on previous experiences, expect you to connect the incongruous, lead you to one conclusion, and then “slam” you with a surprise that doesn't even make sense.
One of these is the main twist at the end of the series, which we won't spoil, because then you can safely skip the series.
Although we said at the beginning that Oldroyd understands the modern streaming era, one gets the impression that he's not exactly adept at adapting a mystery.
It works best as a three-dimensional puzzle, as evidenced most precisely by Japanese honkaku novels, or detective stories inspired by Western ones.
In this sense, it would be quite natural to expect that viewers, with the help of visual clues and clearly spoken words, could solve the triple murder in the series themselves. However, this is not the case in the creation of “His and Hers”. Digressions and “manipulations”, although not fair play, are allowed, but not at the expense of logic and a reasonable solution to the case. This, by the way, is allowed for some unknown reason only To Rian Johnson and his mediocre “Knives Out” films.
Oldroyd is no Johnson, and “His and Hers” can't even come close to the first part of the aforementioned trilogy. But it's entertaining and extremely watchable, and sometimes that kind of content is simply necessary.
Although critics and viewers didn't particularly like it (the Rotten Tomatoes rating is around 60 percent), "His and Hers" holds attention.
It's a real binge treat. It expertly handles its strengths, dark atmospherics, mediocre social commentary, and unnecessary sexualization of the true crime genre.
Whether we like it or not, Netflix executives are more than happy to churn out more similar creations, whether they are adaptations of (mediocre) books or completely "original" works.
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