A sun -soaked story full of beautiful rich people who do terrible things, including a transition sexual act that has taken the tabloids by the mouth. On paper, Britbox import ”Against zero“Sounds like another salastic drama to Ride on Cattails of “The White Lotus.” Still, it actually originates from the past era of cozy crime where the only stiff the annex was the upper lip.
In fact, after ‘and then there was no one,’ “The pale horse,” and “trial of innocence”, in the 1930s is the latest Agatha Christie whodunit to get a semi -conditioned spin. And just like her predecessor, period drama Queen Sarah Phelps, screenwriter Rachel Bennette (“Ripper Street”, “World on Fire”) gives the purists a lot to scream blue murder over.
“BBC viewers left stunned by” dirty “x-ranked scenes” was a typical conservative media heading After the three -part series premiered in the UK last month. “Is” against zero “the most rapid Agatha Christie ever?” Where another. “Probably” is the answer, although let’s not forget that 2018’s “The ABC Murders” flirted with sadomasochism and “The Witness for the Prosecution” contained several bedroom scenes that would make a joint show with grandmother uncomfortably difficult.
Much of Kerfuffle centered around the second section’s grandiose dinner party, and the staircase that takes public shows of affection to new heights. So consumed by the desire for his ex-wife Audrey (Ella Lily Hyland), tennis champion Cad Neville Strange (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) places her head under her burnt orange evening dress and, in full view of all guests walking outside the dining room, performs the clear un Christianity act of Cunnilingus.
If it was not enough to get the easily offended who connects their beads, there is also the beach scene where Nevilles newlyweds Kay (Mimi Keene), which beats its territory, sums up sun globes across his hairy breast in a way that faces softcore. Bennette even throws in a handful of curses words too – it seems fair to conclude as “you f ** king s ***” and “go dance with your f ** king queen” was not in the source material.
Fortunately, “against Zero” has more to offer than swear and sex, even if it takes time to prove it. In fact, the only real mystery initially is the lack of a murder – and why Neville would honeymoon with both his new and Ex-wife, obviously. It takes up to halfway through section two for the bodies to start stacked up, a narrative strategy, admittedly signposted in the opening scene by Clarke Peter’s lawyer Mr. Trees: “The murder is the end. The story begins long before, years before, when the murder is inoculated – the point – the point zeroIf you want. ”
The seeds in this case are sewn when a varied crew of holidaymakers with a high community (and their staff) rise down at the coast’s mansion occupied by Neville’s bed -clad aunt Lady Tressilian (an almost unrecognizable Anjelica Huston). Vid sidan av hennes följeslagare Mary (Anjana Vasan) inkluderar hennes brorson kärlekstriangel och hans gåtfulla betjänare Mac (Adam Hugill), gästlistan också den återvändande svarta fåren i familjen Thomas (Jack Farthing), Treves och hans skolflygplan Sylvia (Grace Doherty) och Lounge Lizard Louis Morel (Khalil Ben Gharbia).
And all parties become suspicion from Inspector Leach (Matthew Rhys), a composed Christie creation whose upcoming WWI experiences have left him with devastating PTSD and a serious case of the black dog. “The devil got your soul,” feels the intuitive Tressilian during one of her many tete-a-tets.
The latter is undoubtedly the MVP of the adaptation and keeps the court from its newspaper -fierce bed with a mixture of contemptuous contempt and pleasing shade. “I got married for love, not money,” Kay claims, the IT girl painted by both the press and the public as a little more than a gold-digging opportunist. “Oh, I’m disappointed,” comes the lady’s answer. Huston, however, is on its best showing best orientations with Trevor about the recipients of her will. “He left me with a tribe of Vipers,” she explains after a series of character murder and referred to the sentenced husband that she witnessed lost to the sea.
But without a doubt grateful for the privilege to join the Christie universe, all major players are at the top of their game. Jackson-Cohen delivers just the right amount of Smarm and Charm to motivate his name to be thrown into the James Bond ring. Farthing impresses in no doubt the most multifaceted role, a content, Tic-Ridd Entrepreneur haunted by childhood accident (or was it?) Who took his cousin’s life. In the meantime, the ever -reliable Rhys give a little gravitas to all theater that the tortured soul, as a tradition, arises all suspects in a room for the great disclosure.
Yes, despite all the hoo-hah, “against zero”, a lot still gets stuck to the Christie template. Everyone, apart from underlines such as Housekeeper Mary (Jackie Clune), is dressed spotless enough to reach Vogue before the war. And apart from a fantasy sequence that channels the sunken place from “Get Out”, the show’s aesthetics are resolutely old school, with the dramatic images from the Devonshire coast, in particular a proven method for building the excitement.
Even Christie’s own grandson has given her approval. “It’s a generation matter, isn’t that?” James Pritchard told Telegraph About the show’s more risqué moments. “We make adjustments in 2025, not 1925.” The smart with “against zero”? Just how it bridges the century long gap.
Agatha Christie’s “Against Zero” will be available on Britbox from Wednesday, April 16, with new episodes released daily on Thursday 17 April and Friday 18 April.
