The Many Adventures of Saskia Nimes

“Beware of narrative and form. Their power can bring us closer to the truth, but they can also be a weapon with a great power to manipulate”

Disclaimer is an Apple TV series based on a novel by Renee Knight and adapted and directed by Oscar winning Director Alfonso Cuaron. Director of Gravity and most recently Roma, expectations are in the very least, high. How will a film director fair, directing a TV series? Well, I’m only an episode in, so I will reserve judgment at this moment in time. The overall look and style of the series however, is second to none, thanks to cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel and Colourist Peter Doyle.

The cast is definitely a big pull to this drama. Cate Blanchett who plays journalist Catherine Ravenscroft, stars alongside Sacha Baron Cohen as her husband Robert and Kevin Kline as Stephen Brigstocke, a bereaved father out for revenge. Rather less known though promising all the same, are actors Louis Partridge who plays Jonathan (Stephen Brigstocke’s son) and Leila George, who plays the young Catherine.

The series centres around Cate Blanchett’s character Catherine, who finds herself the protagonist in a book she receives called ‘The perfect stranger’. The book has been written by a bereaved mother, who had sought to expose Catherine’s supposed role in her son’s death. Having long since passed herself, she never achieved her goal. The one picking up the torch is Kevin Kline’s character, the husband and father who finds a renewed purpose in life and that is to destroy that of Catherine’s. Dawning his wife’s cardigan throughout the episode, as a symbolic gesture keeping her near at every twist and turn.

Standing by the side of Catherine, or rather in her shadow seemingly, is ever supportive husband, Robert. Although a surprising decision casting wise, Sacha Baron Cohen doesn’t disappoint in his role. Portraying his character as a rather weak figure of a man who puts his wife on an ever going to disappoint pedestal. Not exactly the kind of man that would make your panties wet, yet somewhat endearing all the same. The question the viewer will undoubtedly ask is for how much longer will he be there once his wife’s veil as the ‘beacon of truth’ begins to slip.

So, what do we discover about Catherine in episode one? We learn she has a strained and distant relationship with her son, something that pains her a lot. In fact, her son appears to barely stand to be in the same room as her. But why such disdain? I have a feeling we will find out. We also learn that she loves her husband and relies heavily on his support and devotion to her.

Catherine has kept a secret for so long that ‘the act of keeping a secret, secret has almost become bigger than the secret itself’. It is not only the fear of her husband finding out but she seems almost fearful of seeing her true self, looking in her bathroom mirror with the words ‘your mask has fallen’ narrated over. Many of these sentiments are communicated to us in the way of narration, not always an easy thing to implement and perhaps not always necessary either.

The book obviously portrays Catherine badly with all who have read it, of which are all male. They seem to believe she deserves to suffer an ill fate. One being her own son, something I believe to have a deeper and more poignant meaning further down the line. However, we as an audience are still in the dark of what exactly Catherine is supposed to have done. We understand she had a holiday fling twenty years prior from recently discovered photographs. These holiday snaps show her with Jonathan, a much younger man. The photos also show her son, meaning he was there, a troubling detail in this moral quandary. The young Jonathan, who we are first introduced to in the opening sequence on a train to Venice with his girlfriend, is portrayed as an energetic and enthusiastic virile young chap. He is quite inexperienced and immature, a perfect combination of attributes for Catherine to act out her sexual fantasies with.

Although, one can understand some form of moral condemnation, but enough for her to come to some dark end? We are left asking whether she did have something to do with Jonathan’s death? Kevin Klein’s character certainly seems to think so and so did his late wife. You can understand the anguish and pain and wanting to have someone to blame for his ‘life’s demise’.

At one point in the episode, Catherine does attempt to give some kind of confession to her husband. However, he is seemingly incapable of believing her of any kind wrong doing, he somehow manages to stop her in her tracks, perhaps not wanting to kill the illusion of his perfect wife. This microcosm of their relationship encapsulates the message or warning even, during the presentation speech when Catherine is presented with an award.

It is our reluctance as individuals and as a society as a whole to open our minds to the possibility that a highly regarded individual or institution may not be wholly how they portray themselves to be. In doing so, we choose to accept certain truths but ignore inconvenient ones which question our reality and would force us to reassess our fundamental belief systems. As previously stated, it is our own ‘complicity’ in allowing ourselves to be manipulated that allows today’s ‘more toxic social scenes’. Definitely food for thought and incredibly relevant given many recent events.

Overall, Disclaimer looks promising. The actors are well cast and the look and style of the series is very pleasing to the eye. There are a few things that I’m hoping will settle as the story plays out. Namely the narration and the scene jumping, which could potentially leave you emotionally uninvested at times, although well-acted throughout. I am personally looking forward to seeing what happens in episode two. At the end of episode one we are introduced to a younger and beautiful Catherine standing on a beach, seen through the lens of an enamoured young Jonathan. What could possibly go wrong?

To be continued….

Written by Saskia Nimes