When it comes to murder mysteries aboard a fancy yacht, Agatha Christie immediately comes to mind: a canny detective, usually wealthy shipmates, and a smart turn or two are the staples of the genre and the stuff of intrigue. However, while co-writer/director Simon Stone has the ingredients in Netflix’s The Woman in Cabin 10, he and his collaborators miss an essential ingredient for success: engaging and developed characters.
Keira Knightly as successful reporter Laura Blacklock is star enough for the adventure, but she spends most of her time running around the luxury boat avoiding being murdered or exclaiming that she witnessed a murder when no one believes her. Besides her superficial characterization, even Guy Pearce, a perennially charming and intense actor, has little chance to let us get inside him as nothing but the owner, Richard, of said yacht who is promoting a luxury cruise for wealthy donors to this foundation, on behalf of his affluent wife, Annie (Lisa Loven Kongsli), who has been diagnosed with leukemia.
It may be that Kenneth Branaugh’s detective in Christie’s mysteries is such an accomplished actor that Knightly can’t compare, but it seems more logical that given more witty dialogue, Knightly would have a sporting chance. Beyond that talented actress, not another character, even Laura’s former love and photographer Ben (David Ajala), carries any weight or even suspicion.David Morrissey and Hannah Waddington as a troubled married couple add nothing, as does Daniel Ings’s has-been rock star. These talented actors, among others, are given a second’s appearance that proves they have little purchase on the plot or murder motive.
Trust that the murderer is revealed and Laura vindicated, but not before too much running around, too dark cinema photography, and too much love of the yacht itself have sucked out the brief time of this mediocre mystery sailing far behind Agatha even in her recent aging adaptations. But, hey, it’s a relatively cheap Netflix evening.
The Woman in Cabin 10
Director: Simon Stone (The Dig)
Screenplay: Stone, Joe Shrapnel (Rebecca), Anna Waterhouse (Rebecca)
Cast: Keira Knightly (The Imitation Game), Guy Pearce (Memento)
Rating: R
Length: 1h 32
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts NPR’s It’s Movie Time and Cinema Classics as well as podcasts Back Talk and Double Take (recently listed by Feedspot as two of the ten best NPR Movie Podcasts) out of WCBE 90.5 FM, Columbus, Ohio.Contact him at JohnDeSando52@gmail.com