A new Andrew Scott psychological thriller, filmed totally in black and white has landed on Netflix and good news.
It’s great.
Featuring an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing, it seems as if Andrew Scott has been part of yet another hit TV show, adding to Sherlock and Fleabag.
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The Netflix show is called Ripley and is based on the 1995 novel The Talented Mr Ripley which previously saw Matt Damon inhabit the role.
The show plays things slightly more dark than the film though, and Scott is brilliant in the role.
In Caryn James’ five star review for the BBC they said: “The show is brilliantly shot in black and white by the Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Elswit, creating a beautiful shadowy look that intensifies the creepy feeling.
“Writer and director Steven Zaillian makes his smart script compulsively watchable.
“Ripley plays as if it were a Hitchcock series Hitchcock never made.”
The slightly darker tone has had fans and critics questioning whether it’s even better than the film version with Damon, however some believe that the show isn’t for everyone.
In Empire’s review, they said: “A picturesque portrait of a serial killer, this is less romance-with-a-sting-in-its-tail than it is pure sting.
“Its gloomy tone won’t suit everyone, but it’s rare to see film noir this exquisitely crafted on TV.”
Despite this worry, fans have been loving it.
One commenter posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) to say:
“Half time break. Watching Ripley: a little slow to start but now? Totally hooked. “Mesmerising Andrew Scott plays Tom Ripley - a much darker even more flawed grifter than Matt Damon’s ‘Tom’ in the Ripley film.
“Love it’s shot in B&W. Am totally engrossed.”
Jordan Nandino posted: “RIPLEY on Netflix is a complete surprise, a stylish and gripping recreation of 60s noir on a service that doesn’t do this kind of thing all the time.
“Out of the box but not too sweaty about it, fresh, delicious — frankly, I’m engrossed. Best TV of 2024 yet?”
Finally, in an opinion I can 100% get behind: one fan posted ‘Ripley is the most beautiful show Netflix has ever made, it’s just shots of Andrew Scott’.
If Netflix were to just release a show entirely made up of pictures in Andrew Scott in Black and White – I think we can all agree, we’d be sat in front of our TV immediately.
Topics: Netflix, TV, TV and Film, Andrew Scott
Michael Slavin