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- Prime Video
- Apr 1, 2018
- Prime Video
- Apr 1, 2018
Summary Rachel Argyll (Anna Chancellor) is murdered and her adopted son Jack (Anthony Boyle) is sent to prison for the crime. 18 months later, just as Rachel's husband Leo Argyll (Bill Nighy) is about to marry his secretary, Gwenda Vaughan (Alice Eve), a man (Luke Treadaway) arrives saying he has an alibi for Jack in this latest adaptation of Ag...
- Prime Video
- Apr 1, 2018
- Prime Video
- Apr 1, 2018
Summary Rachel Argyll (Anna Chancellor) is murdered and her adopted son Jack (Anthony Boyle) is sent to prison for the crime. 18 months later, just as Rachel's husband Leo Argyll (Bill Nighy) is about to marry his secretary, Gwenda Vaughan (Alice Eve), a man (Luke Treadaway) arrives saying he has an alibi for Jack in this latest adaptation of Ag...
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
71
70% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
30% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
71
70% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
30% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The three-episode period drama deviates from the book’s narrative yet still manages to weave an equally intriguing whodunit.
It’s a smart, attractive, and well-acted version.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 13 User Ratings
6.0
38% Positive
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
54% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
8% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 13 User Ratings
6.0
38% Positive
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
54% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
8% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Bloated with endless and ever increasing flashbacks does nothing to help this appear a legitimate Christie. When it was proceeded by the excellent BBC Agatha Christie : And Then There Were None, it is thrown into harsher contrast, as that was authentic. The cast is great as are the performances, however the method of the story robs all connection between audience and the characters. As many others have noted, it should have been boiled down to 90 minutes at most and not padded with copy and paste scenes that only serve to add a few more seconds on each flashback. That got old very quickly.
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SEASON 1
Every part is well-performed, but the most-acclaimed veterans--Nighy, Goode, Treadaway--do somewhat steal the show. All three are, as they almost always are, reason enough to watch on their own. And you get a crackling mystery too.
It’s not subtle--and occasionally outright dumb--but it’s a gorgeous, beautifully acted bit of squalor, nevertheless.
The sense of dread and guilt that permeates each interaction, combined with the flashback structure that makes this more ghost story than murder mystery, almost makes each of the Argylls at fault in their own way.
It’s lovely but overstylized, amping up the arthouse melodrama to the point where the plot often feels like an afterthought.
Ordeal by Innocence will fill your whodunit needs. And it’ll be lovely to look at in the process, because it is a gorgeous mini-series. But those lovely surfaces aren’t anchored to a propulsive enough story, so when it tries to polish, complicate, and heighten the usual Christie tropes--the flashbacks, the looping story structure, and the fascination with beautiful images of dripping blood and foreshortened statuary--the whole thing feels overwrought.
Cast is top notch, though the endeavor is dragged out over three hour long episodes which in this case is two hours too long. Not nearly as good as last years BBC Agatha Christie : And Then There Were None.
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SEASON 1
more than 3 hours for what would have been a 60-70min "telefilm" in the old days. The acting and production is (very) good but some scenes are totally gratuitous and flat-out boring, which kills the tension and what makes the Agatha Christie style. By the third episode I was fast forwarding the whole thing.
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SEASON 1
If you're going to slap Christie's name above the title, you shouldn't change her plot this much (right down to a different whodunit), and you should at least try to replicate her tone. But the atmosphere here is unrelievedly dark and nasty, and the characters are all uniformly unpleasant--even the supposedly sympathetic ones. The assorted "embellishments" include a forced abortion, pedophilia, and graphic violence. It's not Christie, nor is it a fun three hours.
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SEASON 1