The Woman in Cabin 10

I don't know why I still keep my subscription anymore. I haven't seen anything that deserved 5/10 for the last year. They made all the movies and series so miserable that I can't even watch them till the end.

This one is another example of terrible movie with everything is so easy to guess you can even tell what will happen based on clues they push on your face.

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.

"The Woman in Cabin 10" sails steadily through familiar thriller waters - neither sinking nor soaring. It's a film that sits comfortably in the middle: not particularly gripping, but not outright bad either. The performances are solid, with the cast doing a commendable job at keeping the tension alive, even when the story doesn't fully support them.

The main issue lies in the script, which feels a bit undercooked. The setup is promising, but the plot lacks the punch and complexity needed to elevate it beyond "just fine." The dialogue sometimes feels mechanical, and a few key moments that should hit hard simply drift by without much weight.

Still, "The Woman in Cabin 10" remains a passable watch - the kind of movie that's decent for a quiet evening but won't stick with you once the credits roll. Average through and through, with glimpses of what could have been a sharper, more memorable thriller.

Hammy, campy, Hitchcockian murder mystery that lacks thrills, intrigue or surprise. A strong cast, but entirely unmemorable experience.

There's very little to recommend this pedestrian, boring thriller other than the cast - who on paper are great, but are let down badly here. Plotting is like Chat GPT was asked to invent something based on a combo of The Lady Vanishes and Murder On the Orient Express.

Knightley is crying out for some better material. This is hardly Atonement, The Hole or Bend It Like Beckham. This is more like Beckham's Hole. Absolute pap.

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.