Keira Knightley is back on Netflix in new mystery thriller The Woman in Cabin 10, adapted from the bestselling novel by Ruth Ware. We wouldn't blame you if you were excited as Knightley's last Netflix outing Black Doves was great, and who doesn't love a good mystery? But you'll want to lower those expectations.
The movie centres on journalist Laura Blacklock (Knightley) who, after a particularly traumatic event linked to her last big story, decides to take on an 'easier' assignment. She's been invited, along with a bunch of millionaires, to cover a charity launch on a luxury yacht. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, a lot as it turns out. Laura witnesses a passenger being thrown overboard one night, only to be told that there's all passengers and crew are accounted for. Has she really witnessed a murder or is she dealing with unresolved trauma? By the end of The Woman in Cabin 10, the bigger question is whether you even care.
For this kind of setup to work, there needs to be some ambiguity over whether or not your main character is telling the truth. The problem with The Woman in Cabin 10 is that it's completely unambiguous that Laura is telling the truth, and that the rest of the passengers onboard are just awful rich people who don't want to believe her.
There's a distinct lack of tension as a result and nothing to really dig into, even when it comes to the mystery of who was thrown overboard. You might be intrigued for a bit, but where the movie could have layered mystery-upon-mystery to keep you hooked, it just ends up spelling it out just over an hour in with an entire final act to go.
If there's a positive to be found, it's that the twist – if you haven't read the book – is genuinely a good one. It's the one time the movie is ahead of you as a viewer, subverting what you thought you knew, and if you were background-watching, it'd be a moment to make you pay attention.
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A better movie would have left you to marinate in that moment, trying to piece together what the hell it means. The Woman in Cabin 10, on the other hand, rushes to explain it in the very next scene, and leaves you with an entire final act to realise how little it actually makes sense.
The final act does add some much-needed nonsense into proceedings to liven things up, as long as you submit to how silly it becomes. It's the kind of tone that the first hour could have done with as it's largely a dour affair, wasting the talents of the stacked cast apart from fun bit-part roles for Kaya Scodelario and Paul Kaye.
Perhaps as casual weekend viewing, you might be better attuned to allowing The Woman in Cabin 10 to wash over you. It's almost the archetypal streaming movie, one led by major stars that you recognise with a story that you don't need to think about and a runtime (90 mins, without credits) that doesn't outstay its welcome.
But where the book might have been a gripping page-turner, The Woman in Cabin 10 is all too easy to put down and ignore.
The Woman in Cabin 10 is available to watch now on Netflix.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
