Netflix thriller series ends with a shocking head-spinner
I just watched a sleekly ridiculous Netflix six-parter titled “Behind Her Eyes,” and reader, like most love-it-orhate-it prospects in this world, it’s neither.
It’s both-ish. It’s Noël Coward’s “Design for Living” as revised by Gillian Flynn on a dare. It’s a melange of adultery, “lucid dreaming,” and an overarching cautionary tale about the risks of befriending both your boss (with benefits) and your boss’s apparently unstable wife (no sex but serious intimacy nonetheless).
Even with its problems, I like it. Yes, it feels a bit taffypulled into nearly six hours.
Its triple axel of shocking reveals in the final episode is both wacky and, in terms of audience sympathies, pretty sad.
But “Behind Her Eyes” is also extremely well-acted. As with many binge prospects of medium quality, after a while you concentrate on the faces, if (and because) they belong to some strong and distinctive actors playing in more than one key.
Sarah Pinborough’s 2017 bestselling novel has been adapted by Steve Lightfoot and Angela LaManna and directed by the Norwegian filmmaker Erik Richter Strand. The book was marketed with its own social media hashtag: #WTFThat Ending.
“Behind Her Eyes” begins straightforwardly enough, with a chance meeting in a London pub between secretary Louise (Simona Brown) and psychiatrist David (Tom Bateman). Their candlelit eyes flash the look of love. Some kissing on the sidewalk, and then David retreats, quickly, looking like guilt on toast.
The next day at work, Louise learns that David’s the clinic’s new hire, and she’s his secretary. They agree to keep the flirtation confidential, with particular care not to agitate David’s blatantly troubled wife, Adele (Eve Hewson).
But lust wins round after round, and meantime,
“Behind Her Eyes” gradually leaks out information about the tragedy in Adele’s past, the death of her parents, and how David saved her. In flashbacks, we see Adele recovering from her trauma at a beautiful rehab institute. We also meet sweet, messed-up Rob (Robert Aramayo), who’s struggling with heroin dependency.
The tentacles of addiction wrap around the narrative, along with night terrors shared by Adele and Louise. Director Strand and his design collaborators invent an artful eyeful of various dream states, owing a bit to Magritte and a bit more to “Alice in Wonderland” — referenced directly in one scene when Louise reads Lewis Carroll to her 7-yearold, played with lovely naturalness by Tyler Howitt.
As Louise continues her affair with David, she also befriends Adele, again by chance. Adele knows she’s David’s secretary but nothing more. Adele and Louise agree to keep their friendship to themselves. That’s a massive hunk of deception for Louise, and it’s only a question of when everything will get sprung in “Behind Her Eyes.”
Does the series stick the triple axel? Some viewers’ eyes may never stop rolling, while others will find it effectively berserk, though it relies on supernatural developments that end up looking a bit silly on screen. “Behind Her Eyes” isn’t about people, really. It’s about #WTFThatEnding. I liked the journey more than the destination, but then, I don’t skate.
Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic. mjphillips@chicagotribune.com
Rating: TV-MA (sex, nudity, language, smoking, drug use) Running time: Six episodes, approximately five-and-a-half hours
ACROSS
1 Pac.
counterpart 4 “Stay”
singer Lisa 8 Postal
delivery 12 Dad on
“Black-ish” 13 Bullets 14 Hotel chain 15 “Jurassic Park” creature 17 Videostreaming brand 18 Free of
bumps 19 Discoverer’s
call
21 “Isn’t — bit like you and me?” 22 Vienna’s
river
26 Run in the
wash 29 Band’s
booking 30 R&B singer
Des’—
31 “— Lang
Syne” 32 Baltimore
paper 33 Ump’s call 34 Dundee
denial 35 ACLU
issues 36 Boston team, for short
37 — clock 39 Male cat 40 Year in
Madrid 41 Puts into
law 45 Mentor 48 Sound of a
ringing bell 50 On the
Baltic, say 51 Furniture
brand 52 Boy king 53 Big rig 54 Trawler
gear 55 UFO fliers
DOWN
1 Totals 2 Decorate 3 Comic Jay 4 Endured 5 Nebraska
city 6 Flightless
bird 7 “Prince Igor”
composer 8 Blockhead
9 I love (Lat.) 10 Squid
squirt 11 Lucy of
“Kill Bill” 16 Reacted to a
light show 20 Witch 23 Caspian
Sea feeder 24 Karate
level 25 Morays 26 French seat 27 Maui meal 28 Power co.
supply 29 Gloomy guy 32 Substituted
(for)
33 Hit the roof 35 Harry Potter
pal
36 Party
dances 38 Island of
Hawaii 39 Doctrine 42 Refer to 43 Threaded
fastener 44 LAPD ranks 45 Ozone, for
one 46 Employ 47 “The One I
Love” band 49 White House
nickname
IF FEBRUARY 19 IS YOUR BIRTHDAY:
During the upcoming two to three weeks, a brief vacation might be just the ticket to satisfy your need for romance. You may be energetic but easily annoyed in March, when you should avoid confrontations. Your luck changes for the better in May, when you might earn recognition. In June, your business skills can help you get ahead in your career. July is an excellent time to put your plans into motion.