The Woman in Cabin 10

Few years ago I was moaning that we were over populated by superhero movies with no end in sight. Well I spoke to soon, and now I'm plagued by a never ending cycle of ensemble murder mysteries.

I'll start by saying this is not by any means a terrible movie and almost definitely doesn't deserve 1 or 2 star ratings but it sure as hell is not a great movie. In fact in about six months time from now I would of likely forgotten all about watching this movie, and this review will almost be like a diary entry reminding me i did in fact watch this.

In truth, this movie is just not as smart as it believes it should be (Knives Out it is not). There was definitely glimpses of what could of been, but it's quickly ruined by some lackluster bored performances and some implausible twists and turns that completely shut me off.

There are some positives, I actually enjoyed the overall look of the movie, similar to other Netflix products the money is completely well spent on its production values, and I very much imagine director Simon Stone will find little obstacles in the way of getting future projects. It was a welcome return for Kiera Knightley in a major picture whose projects have been very sporadic since the pirates franchise, who gives a fairly decent performance.

The problem is, it's a ensemble cast, with some decent names, primarily British actors but well known Australian actor Guy Pearce as well. And outside of a lukewarm decent performance from Kiera, noone really stands out, at all. Not their performances and especially not their written characters.

Truth be told, outside of looking well shot and a possibly half decent idea for a premise, it's awfully bland. The dialogue is thin, the whole cover up and everyone is a villain plot is just ludicrous. Thankfully it's not a long movie with a relatively short runtime of 1 hour 32 minutes so doesn't feel like I've completely wasted my time. But wether it's trying to be a murder mystery of a thriller it really lacks the depth of either and ultimately just becomes a one time watch in the background.

If you're scrolling Netflix for a quick and easy Friday night watch, this may fit the bill.

Keira Knightly plays a journalist, and at the outset I thought this might play out as a political thriller. But it's more along the lines of an Agatha Christie mystery, or more precisely Flightplan (2005) but on a yacht. There is a twist I did not see coming, at least in part due to its implausibility.

There are some great actors in supporting roles, but sadly they are given little to do as mostly one-dimensional characters. Gugu Mbatha-Raw in particular is criminally underutilized.

Nonetheless, a bowl of popcorn, 90 minutes, easy-peasy. I give it an extra star just for Knightley.

Another example of how it takes a genius like Hitchcock to make such material a winner. "Comedy! Chills! Chuckles!" Hitchcock fulfilled these advertising promises in 1938. "The Lady Vanishes" is still a delight today. "The Woman in Cabin 10" has a first-class leading actress in Keira Knightley. That saves it from being a complete flop. Otherwise, there's zero comedy, just a few embarrassing attempts at chuckles and far too few chills. But ... Keira Knightley is in it.

It's relatively gripping for the first 20-30 mins. However, one soon starts to get irritated by the main character's actions. For a seasoned serious journalist, she sure looses her cool easily. It's a wee bit easy to see the plot development (when it comes, you are sort of disgusted how easy it was to guess). But what happens in the last 1/3rd is just pure silliness. Like someone was running out of time to finish the loose ends, and give a way out.

I read the synopsis of the novel, and it sounds like the original story actually would have made sense. What they tried to augment in the adaption ruined the whole thing.

A reporter played by Keira Knightley is brought in to cover a story on a luxury yacht as it sails from the UK to Norway. One night she thinks she seems someone go overboard, but there is no record of such a person ever having been on the boat. Is she losing her mind, or is something going on?

The film is a modern day take on the 1938 Hitchcock film The Lady Vanishes, using the same underlying concept. It starts off strong, gradually building up the background of the story and characters, and making good use of the setting on this beautifully designed boat, letting it almost become like another character.

However as time goes on, the twists and turns in the story start coming a little too unsatisfyingly fast. You don't get to enjoy the unraveling of the mystery as much as you could, and the implausibilities start building up.

The final act really falls flat, as things become increasingly ludicrous.

Overall not a bad film, starts off strong, but then descends into mediocrity. 6/10.