Obsession: How this Netflix erotic thriller is as captivating as it is sinister

Obsession (ObsessionUK / 2023). Title: Glenn Leyburn, Lisa Barros-Dessa. script: Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and Benji Walters, based on the novel Damage by Josephine Hart. Throw: Richard Armitage, Charlie Murphy, Indira Varma, Reesh Shah. Available in: Netflix. Our opinion: normal.

in All the erotic excitement There is an almost unspoken rule: the irrationality of actions must be recorded, stripped of moral insight, but attempted to unlock the causes of the magnetism that leads its protagonists (again and again) to approach in the context of what forbids. Obsession, New British Imagination Netflix From four short episodes that have been placed among the most watched episodes on the streaming platform, it is part of this guideline, but his story is not only within the reach of the writers. Morgan Lloyd Malcolm And Benji WaltersRather, it turns into a psychological study of the characters from such a gutter that their actions border on improbability, even within the codes of this story, where instinct takes precedence over any more logical thought.

The first stumbling block encountered in the novel is based on the novel Damage by Josephine Hart, published in 1991 – is the building of an engaging setting for this pivotal meeting between the protagonists, the eminent doctor William Farrow (Richard Armitage), and political adviser Anna Barton (the formerHappy Valley Charlie Murphy), a young woman who is having an affair with William’s son, Jai (Rish Shah). Although not quite the same pace, the turmoil brought about by Anna’s presence in the life of a man who seems to have discovered everything is reminiscent of that in Drake Doremus’ movie, innocent affectionA feature film in which a young woman changes the present of the father of the family by simply being in that environment.

But if gravity is in this production in a crescendo And with the vicissitudes of confusion, Obsession It registers this infatuation astonishingly (if we can count it as such), and only needs a sequence lasting barely five minutes to bring William and Anna closer together and convince the viewer that no inner conflict could arise from such madness. At this point, the film has many cards to play, including the betrayal of a father by his son, who believes he has found in this woman the person he wants to spend the rest of his life with. Far from exploring William’s turmoil as a result of the temptation to which he soon succumbs, Obsession He’s uninterested in Jay’s character, let alone in the way he cheats on both sides, which wastes the possibility of opening the fan and integrating all the weird dynamics that run as a result. Affairs from the supporters.

rightthe series chooses to take a look at the purely sexual encounters between William and Anna that promise, at least in the beginning, an approach to what sadomasochistic practices suggest, a topic in which the imagination quickly loses interest and then jumps to the other factor it explores with more enthusiasm: Anna’s background and reason satisfactory procedure. The performance of talented Irish actress Charlie Murphy is what keeps the ship afloat as Murphy brings humanity to a broken character, with a traumatic past that causes him to repeat the same pattern in his love and sexual relationships.

in those moments, Obsession He manages to avoid the prevailing superficiality to give space to the more imaginatively appealing role in which most of the characters get lost. As an example, we have the role of “The Wife”, despite her ductile personification Indira Varma In any case, schemes that imagination itself cannot get rid of can never be cut out.

In addition, Nor does the indifferent performance of Richard Armitage contribute to this collection of missteps, who considered that the best way to reflect his character’s torment was to remain aloof, lethargic, with a dead face in spite of all that was going on around him. . near its end, Obsession It also falls into the trap of including spinning the wheel to rearrange its pieces and start from scratch, but the episode in question falls so ruthlessly out of line with the overall story that the series not only ends up sinking but also has to navigate through the consequences of that sudden torsion Reshapes the characters and makes them advance in a more incomprehensible way than has been seen.

In addition to the fact that it is not necessary to generate sympathy for that couple who is in the business of destroying everything in their path (after all, morality is not on the table), Obsession He was also unable to investigate why these personalities were intertwined episodeexcept for those sections where we see Anna’s world outside of this connection. However, it is not enough for the imagination, which although it contains an addictive element, gains the sophistication brought about by Louis Malley’s adaptation of Hart’s novel.

Obsession It’s available now on Netflix.