THE BEAST IN ME

CONTAINS SPOILERS! Claire Danes and her trademark lip quiver lead this thriller as Aggie Wiggs, a neurotic author mourning her young son’s death. Rumoured wife killer Nile Jarvis (Matthew Rhys) moves into her neighbourhood and Aggie becomes fixated on him. When Jarvis asks her to make him the subject of her next book she jumps at the chance, ignoring her intuition. Aggie thinks she’s cleverly playing both sides, feeding information about Jarvis to the FBI, while acting like his friend. Little does she know that she’s poking the bear, or more aptly, the beast. Even Blind Freddy can see that Jarvis is a psychopath. His privilege knows no limits and his well-connected family of heavies operates with influence. The acting, script, lighting, and set design of this series are all superb. The plot is engaging and has some solid twists. Danes and Rhys share a genuinely creepy chemistry and their cat-and-mouse dynamic drives 90% of the story. Rhys excels as the deadly businessman – you won’t forget how he eats chicken in a hurry. My one frustration is the infuriating character of Aggie. Admittedly, she’s a broken woman, fraught with anxiety. Her darting eyes and wavering voice make it feel like she’s always on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Her choices are often irrational and risky, like taking a walk through the woods with a suspected murder. She’s also bumblingly gullible and self-serving, which leads her into danger. By the time she realises she’s out of her depth, it may already be too late. Aggie’s adorable white fluffy dog Steve deserves a special mention. He was named by her son and is one of the last connections she has to him. And he does NOT die! Phew! Intense and brooding, with some Aggie induced irritation thrown in.