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Is Netflix’s Ripley Worth Watching? A Detailed Review
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A Colorless Italy and its Trappings
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Credit to Steven Zaillian: visually and tonally, “Ripley” couldn’t feel more different from the classic 1999 movie adaptation starring Matt Damon and Jude Law. Shot entirely in black and white with an abundance of static frames, poetic compositions, and idyllic locales, the series evokes a noirish vibe from the get-go — befitting the protagonist’s parasitic lifestyle of deceiving and exploiting every soul he can.
And while the 1960s of New York in the first episode is an apt match for Zaillian’s approach, it doesn’t work the same for anything after it. The black and white dulls the Italian Riviera and deprives its vivacious colors and effervescent atmosphere that make the country so majestically appealing. Though it’s a conscious and thematic choice, it’s hard to overlook how many nuances we miss out on (the luscious clothes, the breathtaking panorama, the vivid paintings) because of it. It almost feels like a waste to shoot the majority of the series in Italy and then purposely flatten its mesmerizing beauty for dramatic purposes.
That’s not to say the series doesn’t look good — it’s as elaborate and well-directed as it can be — but it’s hard to envision a version where the colors couldn’t have added more than the desolate monochrome.
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Unnerving Tranquility and a Fantastic Andrew Scott
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What works great with “Ripley,” though, is the constantly building tension that Steven Zaillian injects even into the most ordinary scenes. By its nature, the series unfolds at a leisurely pace, taking its time to create suspense, but boy, it pays off handsomely with every climax in each episode. Combined with Andrew Scott’s magnetic lead performance, the show conveys a sort of unnerving tranquility that charges even the most innocent dialogue and normal situation with a sense of threat and danger that could manifest at any moment — and rest assured, it will. Given his wide range as an actor, we already know what he’s capable of, but Scott truly delivers a mesmerizing character study of a despicable, unrepentant, yet also alluring anti-hero whose greed overrides the few emotions he possesses as a human being.
From the beginning, Zaillian portrays Ripley for exactly what he is — a master manipulator, impostor, and psychopath — but provides subtle layers to his monstrous personality. His inherent wickedness is never in question, but we get to peek into his mind and study the values and principles (if we can call them that) he lives by and how he attempts to compensate for his abominable actions with artificial kindness. It’s an extremely delicate task to get this right, but thanks to Scott’s delivery and Zaillian’s artistic style, “Ripley” more or less succeeds in that aspect.
Narratively, however, there are very few surprises here that viewers even vaguely familiar with the character (or its portrayal in the 1999 adaptation) won’t see coming. Although, due to its length, the series covers more ground than the feature did, I’m unsure if its reimagined perspective justifies the retelling of a universally known and abundantly adapted material by now. Overall, “Ripley” feels like a style-over-substance exercise for Scott and Zaillian — a painstakingly artistic one at that — rehashing a story already told several times on the big and small screen. However, there’s definitely potential to expand the character’s journey in this singular milieu, and the finale certainly prepares the ground for more to come if there’s a demand for it.
All eight episodes of “Ripley” premiere on April 4 on Netflix.