Worth: $9.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Jenna Coleman, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Ashley Benson, Eric Balfour, Claire Rushbrook
Intro:
… what makes this so unsatisfying is that it just isn’t fun.
Fed up with the pattern of lying, cheating men in her life, when Liv Taylor (Jenna Coleman) discovers her husband Will (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) has lost focus and had a consensual workplace relationship, she confronts him outright. Rather than deny his affair, Will proposes that they finally take the honeymoon they never had in the hopes of repairing what’s broken between them. Against all odds, Liv agrees to the trip, but while Will spends his days planning their reconciliation, Liv spends hers plotting the ultimate revenge.
Opening with a clunky narration of meandering paragraphs better suited to B.E. Jones’ novel on which the show is based, Liv’s outline of soon-to-be-unfolding events takes shape in a series of steps that are not unfamiliar. One reckless decision that changes a handful of lives forever in a domino effect; a spiderweb of lies and broken promises, at the centre of which sits Liv herself, pulling each tremulous string.
As the protagonist who blunders as often as she succeeds, Jenna Coleman was an inspired choice. Her ability to play the human side of occasionally morally grey characters (as she did with aplomb during her reign as Victoria) lends a kind of authenticity to Liv’s struggle that makes you want to continue alongside her down her chosen path, if only to see where it will lead.
Marnie Dickens’ screenplay makes great strides in avoiding stereotyping our female leads as either the embittered wife or the jezebel mistress. Both are capable of betrayal and of being betrayed, and just when you think you have them pegged, Dickens lobs another curveball your way. Unfortunately, the story spends more time talking about the intrigue of it all than it does building any kind of legitimate tension.
There are a lot of missed opportunities for Gone Girl-esque mind games here, but instead we pivot towards fundamental relationship drama dressed up as a psychological thriller. It’s amplified scenes from a marriage with a noir twist, featuring the now signature soundtrack of bops we expect from an Prime Video series, headlined of course by Taylor Swift, with “Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor’s Version)” providing the opening credits theme.
Ultimately, what makes this so unsatisfying is that it just isn’t fun. You can delight in the sweetly twisted revenge of a character who is compellingly unhinged, but sadly Liv and Will Taylor skew closer towards mundane. They may be written to be credibly flawed and their decisions almost plausible, but believability is not enough to make their lover’s spat an entertaining watch.
