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- Netflix
- Apr 4, 2024
- Netflix
- Apr 4, 2024
- Netflix
- Apr 4, 2024
- Netflix
- Apr 4, 2024
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 41 Critic Reviews
75
78% Positive
32 Reviews
32 Reviews
17% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
5% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 41 Critic Reviews
75
78% Positive
32 Reviews
32 Reviews
17% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
5% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Black and white might make “Ripley” seem colder from the outside, but it’s actually just more cinematically immersive, plunging you uncomfortably close to a psyche that feels unnervingly unstable. And Scott is a true tour de force of a disheartened character, so superficially cool and assured on the surface, it’s all just a performance, on top of a performance trying to mask the things underneath that are almost too much to bear.
By toning down the glamour in his mesmerizing adaptation, Zaillian heightens these unsettling questions. His is the darkest Ripley yet, lonelier and darker even than Highsmith’s, and deeper, too.
While some might be put off by “Ripley’s” measured tempo and its detached icicle of a protagonist, noir fans won’t be and will admire how effectively it revives an often overworked genre. Simply put, “Ripley” nails it.
A picturesque portrait of a serial killer, this is less romance-with-a-sting-in-its-tail than it is pure sting. Its gloomy tone won’t suit everyone, but it’s rare to see film noir this exquisitely crafted on TV.
Those with a nostalgic love for a certain sort of cinematic experience are likely to be strong fans of the highly controlled, hermetic “Ripley.”
Other than unnecessarily elongating the story and filming it in black and white, Netflix’s adaptation does nothing to improve on the Oscar-nominated film that already exists.
And though Scott isn’t exactly Ripley, his approach to scenes is so weird and idiosyncratic that he often makes the performance work on its own terms. Still, there’s no getting past the flatness of this series, the dead air between exchanges of dialogue and the overall feeling of grimness. “Ripley” is neither Highsmith nor a plausible substitute. If anything, it’s a missed opportunity.
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