Plot: Since the tragic death of her young son, acclaimed author Aggie Wiggs has receded from public life, unable to write, a ghost of her former self. But she finds an unlikely subject for a new book when the house next door is bought by Nile Jarvis, a famed and formidable real estate mogul who was once the prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance. At once horrified and fascinated by this man, Aggie finds herself compulsively hunting for the truth – chasing his demons while fleeing her own – in a game of cat and mouse that might turn deadly.
Review: The Beast in Me is a series that harkens back to some of the best mystery thrillers to air on the small screen. A limited series based on an original idea and anchored by sensational lead performances, Netflix’s latest project is another win for the streaming platform, which does not follow the expected formula from its in-house creators and yet checks all the right boxes for a great binge-watch. Premiering at just the right time, The Beast in Me is the type of series that usually becomes a hit during the summertime but will debut just in time for the start of winter and give audiences something to discuss and recommend to their friends. Anchored by the great Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys and boasting the involvement from the creator of Homeland, The Beast in Me is a guilty pleasure that no one should feel bad about enjoying.
The eight-episode limited series opens with author Aggie Wiggs (Claire Danes) living in seclusion following the untimely death of her son in a car accident. Divorced from Shelley (Natalie Morales), Aggie lives in a beautiful home in an isolated subdivision. With her house falling apart and suffering from writer’s block, Aggie is surprised when infamous real estate mogul Nile Jarvis (Matthew Rhys) moves in next door with his wife, Nina (Brittany Snow). Nile is a forceful and blunt man who takes a liking to Aggie and her refusal to cower to his demands for an easement to develop a jogging path in the community. Nile is insulting and carries the stigma of being a suspect in the disappearance and possible murder of his first wife, which has made him a notorious figure in tabloids. Aggie and Nile develop a begrudging dynamic that borders on friendship as Nile insists that Aggie write a book about him. From there, the two maintain an orbit around one another that becomes more and more complex as Aggie begins to suspect that not only is Nile capable of the crimes he is accused of but that he may have committed more that involve Aggie herself.
Right away, I bought into The Beast in Me based solely on the lead actors. Claire Danes has proven her acting talent multiple times over, and reuniting here with her Homeland showrunner, Howard Gordon, was always going to result in something special. While Aggie is very different from her Homeland character of Carrie Mathison, both share past trauma and emotional volatility that make them fascinating to watch. In The Beast in Me, Danes gives Aggie a blend of paranoia, survivor’s guilt, and a skill as an investigator that evolves over the series as we learn more about the death of her son and how it impacts every fiber of Aggie’s being. Aggie is also a parallel to Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling, with Matthew Rhys playing this series’ Hannibal Lecter. In an interesting twist, Jodie Foster serves as an executive producer on this series alongside Conan O’Brien. Rhys, best known for his fantastic work on the FX series The Americans as well as the under-appreciated HBO reboot of Perry Mason, makes for a chillingly seductive and charming antagonist. Nile Jarvis is a wolf in sheep’s clothing who, as the series progresses, may not even be hiding his true nature.
The supporting cast is all excellent, including familiar faces like David Lyons as FBI Agent Brian Abbot, Tim Guinee as Nile’s uncle, Breaking Bad‘s Jonathan Banks as Nile’s father, Martin, The Penguin’s Dierdre O’Connell as Aggie’s editor, and Hannibal‘s Hettienne Park as Agent Erika Bretton. Brittany Snow, recently seen in Netflix’s buzzworthy The Hunting Wives, is a major player in this story and holds her own opposite Matthew Rhys and Claire Danes. While Danes gets to wallow in the emotional range of her character, Rhys is astounding and terrifying as the calculating Nile through every episode of the story. The twists and plotting of The Beast in Me feel pulpy and border on the more melodramatic primetime dramas that air on network television, but the pitch black tone of the series allows it to feel more elevated and on par with marquee series like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and Ozark. The series is violent, scary, and mature, yet it maintains a sense of entertainment that makes it easy to binge.
The series is created by Gabe Rotter, best known for writing on the eleventh season of The X-Files. Rotter spent almost seven years developing The Beast in Me before coming to Netflix, where 24 and Homeland‘s Howard Gordon came aboard as showrunner. Rotter is credited on the first and second episodes, along with Erika Sheffer, C.A. Johnson, Daniel Pearle, Ali Liebegott, Mike Skerrett, and Howard Gordon, on the other six episodes. Director Antonio Campos and Tyne Rafaeli share credits on the series that maintains momentum across all eight episodes without missing a beat. Unlike some streaming series that claim to be limited but are extended into ongoing runs, The Beast in Me has a concrete beginning, middle, and end, delivering a satisfying conclusion. Sure, there is always potential to revive the series should it resonate with audiences, but this story feels like it closes out in the right way.
The Beast in Me is the type of series that could have failed in less skilled hands. The story borders on silly but hinges on the impeccable acting of Claire Danes, Matthew Rhys, and Brittany Snow, which keeps it from devolving into a pulpy soap opera. There are genuine stakes for these characters who feel three-dimensional and fully realized, even if their decisions can be confounding and frustrating to the viewers at home. By the final episode, which I think many of you will binge to get to, you will witness some scene-stealing work from Matthew Rhys that will continue to cement him as one of the most talented and underappreciated actors working today. The Beast in Me is chilling, exciting, and a bold return to form for Danes and Rhys, and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.
The Beast in Me premieres on November 13th on Netflix.
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