Don’t blink or you might miss the earliest clues in Alfonso Cuarón‘s (Apple TV) excellent seven-part psychological thriller (based on Renée Knight‘s 2015 novel) Disclaimer. The message at an awards ceremony about story manipulation, for example. The titular disclaimer itself. Whereas many disclaimers in fiction are designed to warn you that “any resemblance to persons living or dead is a coincidence” there’s a slight but important twist in this one. I’ll get to that soon.
First, the basic plot. Catherine Ravenscroft (Cate Blanchett), an award-winning documentary filmmaker, is targeted by a mysterious someone who drops off a newly published novel to her place of work. She reads it and panics. Someone knows about her shameful past. All of a sudden her marriage to Robert (Sacha Baron Cohen), her fragile relationship with adult son Nicholas (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and her career feel threatened.
Now the disclaimer. The Perfect Stranger, that book in question, states that “Any resemblance to persons living or dead is not a coincidence.” NOT a coincidence. Although the author is pseudonymous, we learn that it was actually written by a woman, Nancy (Lesley Manville), about circumstances surrounding the unexpected and unexplained death of her son, Jonathan. It’s her now-widower, Stephen (Kevin Kline), who’s decided to put it out there as his own work. His mission? He gleefully seeks revenge against Catherine, who’s perceived to be responsible for their son’s death decades ago. Giving her the book was only his first step.
How will this all go down for Catherine? We gradually get answers as the narrative goes back and forth in time. The trailer:
As Disclaimer is meant to be (and is) an intriguing and twisty thriller, I’m not about to give stuff away. Instead, I’ll highlight a few observations from selected reviews.
Clint Worthington, rogerebert.com: “…an elegantly woven tapestry of torment, which grips you by the head and forces you to stare at the trainwreck of two people’s lives, caught in the riptide of pain. What’s worse, you’ll see in stark, crisp detail how the drowning will pull anyone in their vicinity under the current in desperation. It is said, after all, that, before you seek revenge, you must dig two graves.”
Laura Babiak, Observer: “…Kline gets to be a bit off his rocker, a mad genius who parades around his house in his dead wife’s cardigan. He’s threatening and diabolical and decidedly creepy, a fitting antagonist determined to uphold some sense of justice for his wife and son. And who could blame him, after watching Lesley Manville’s Nancy? Though she gets some of the least screen time of the ensemble, Manville’s furious grief serves as the backbone of this show. It’s a powerhouse performance that haunts the narrative just as much as the death that kicks things off.”
David Ehrlich, IndieWire: “The way ‘Disclaimer’ preys on our own bloodthirsty nature to dole out judgment could seem like a screed against cancel culture, if it wasn’t so well-positioned to appreciate accountability. So many characters who’ve read Nancy’s book are quick to say some version of, ‘I’m glad that bitch got what’s coming to her.’ But for as vicious as the series can get, it’s careful, even considerate, in doling out comeuppance.”
