Extremely Strong Acting Carries The Freight But Can't Fully Elevate Messy Plotting
This Netflix limited series contains some of the highest-quality acting you'll ever see in a drama. Mainly from generational talent Claire Danes, but also from Matthew Rhys and the likes of Jonathan Banks & Brittany Snow. Unfortunately, The Best in Me's overstuffed plotting can only be elevated so far by such star-quality thespian-ism.
For a very basic overview, The Best In Me tells the story of Aggie Wiggs (Danes), a reclusive author who has supposed-murderer Nile Jarvis (Rhys) and his wife Nina (Snow) move in next door. Desperate for her next book idea, Aggie makes Nile her new project (especially when another victim may be attributed to him right in her hometown), only to fall further down the rabbit hole than originally anticipated.
I quite literally cannot stress enough how strong the acting is here. When Danes & Rhys are feeling each other out on screen, the chemistry practically crackles. Danes does most of the early heavy-lifting, while Rhys gets his close-ups, so to speak, more towards the endgame. Meanwhile, Banks & Snow are more-than-solid in their supporting roles. It is certainly reason enough to watch The Best In Me for the acting alone.
That said, the messy plotting of this series severely limits its ceiling. It is a decent thriller with something to say message-wise, but a lot of that potency is lost in a stew of too many twists and too many characters. Perhaps this all works better on the page where more can be expounded upon, but here it was hard to follow all the motivations (of even the side-characters, at times). I wish the focus could have been squarely on Aggie & Nile throughout.
Overall, I settled on a solid-but-not-spectacular 7/10 rating for The Beast In Me. The acting will render it likable to almost any audience even if the plot may underwhelm some viewers.
For a very basic overview, The Best In Me tells the story of Aggie Wiggs (Danes), a reclusive author who has supposed-murderer Nile Jarvis (Rhys) and his wife Nina (Snow) move in next door. Desperate for her next book idea, Aggie makes Nile her new project (especially when another victim may be attributed to him right in her hometown), only to fall further down the rabbit hole than originally anticipated.
I quite literally cannot stress enough how strong the acting is here. When Danes & Rhys are feeling each other out on screen, the chemistry practically crackles. Danes does most of the early heavy-lifting, while Rhys gets his close-ups, so to speak, more towards the endgame. Meanwhile, Banks & Snow are more-than-solid in their supporting roles. It is certainly reason enough to watch The Best In Me for the acting alone.
That said, the messy plotting of this series severely limits its ceiling. It is a decent thriller with something to say message-wise, but a lot of that potency is lost in a stew of too many twists and too many characters. Perhaps this all works better on the page where more can be expounded upon, but here it was hard to follow all the motivations (of even the side-characters, at times). I wish the focus could have been squarely on Aggie & Nile throughout.
Overall, I settled on a solid-but-not-spectacular 7/10 rating for The Beast In Me. The acting will render it likable to almost any audience even if the plot may underwhelm some viewers.
- zkonedog
- 26 nov 2025