A good friend of mine used to joke that he would at all times find yourself sitting in the entrance of individuals in film theaters who had by no means seen a comedy earlier than. You understand the parents who assume each single joke lands sufficient to impress a hearty guffaw. Netflix’s “Pieces of Her” is a thriller that solely works for somebody who has by no means seen a thriller earlier than. It traffics in so many tropes that most likely labored higher on the web page of Karin Slaughter’s hit ebook, however simply lay limp on this inert try at style leisure. Toni Collette by no means misses, however she’s left stranded right here by a script that doesn’t go far sufficient to impress B-movie thrills however is structured in a means that drains something that feels lifelike. Consequently, it’s one other undertaking caught in that valley between camp and character, containing too few items of both.
“Pieces of Her” opens with the sort of jolt that convinces folks to purchase an ebook to learn on a seaside trip. Laura Oliver (Collette) and her daughter Andy (Bella Heathcote) are at a restaurant on what looks as if a particular day when a mass taking pictures unfolds. Laura steps in to guard her daughter and has shown a surprisingly vicious protecting nature, slicing the jugular of the murderer. It’s the sort of twist that will get worldwide consideration on the information—the mom who stopped extra lack of life along with her braveness. Laura doesn’t need worldwide consideration.
For causes that gained’t be spoiled, Laura is on the information is dangerous for each of her and Andy. When violence comes once more into Laura’s life, this time to her precise door, she sends her daughter away, however, Andy refuses to enter hiding, attempting to determine who precisely this girl is that she’s been calling mother. As an alternative, she begins digging into clues left about Laura’s background, and “Pieces of Her” turns into a sequence of showing flashbacks that additionally embrace David Wenham as Laura’s brother and Terry O’Quinn as her father, who was publicly murdered in Oslo many years earlier.
The puzzle construction of “Pieces of Her” will be infuriating. This type of sequence of reveals and twists is an extra delicate steadiness than it might seem. One thing like HBO Max’s “The Vacationer,” additionally premiering this week, retains its revelations transferring at a tempo that companies character and pressure. Right here, it feels just like the writers are continuously dishonest us, retaining again particulars that might make these characters extra attention-grabbing if we knew what the Hell was going in their minds. There’s a fantastic line between thrills and retaining us at nighttime for therefore lengthy that we cease caring. “Pieces of Her” crosses that line, particularly with how a lot is revealed through flashbacks. We cease caring concerning the characters or their plights as a result of we don’t know why we should always care. It turns into data dumps in episodic construction as an alternative of something truly thrilling.
It’s a disgrace that this inert writing drags down a lot of the performers with it too. Heathcote blandly performs confusion for a lot of the sequence, which probably makes for a relatable protagonist on the web page however a boring one on TV. The fascinating and promising Jessica Barden, who performs Laura in flashbacks, has surprisingly been directed by TV vet Minkie Spiro (a “Homeland” common) to dampen most of her charming instincts and go solely with sullen. Solely Collette affords any interiority. She’s an actress who is ready to promote again story with a look or shiver of reminiscence in a means that so many can’t even fathom. She offers extra items of herself than the present round her has any concept of what to do with.
Complete sequence screened for overview. Premiere in its entirety on Netflix tomorrow, March 4th.