RIPLEY -- The Talented Mr. Andrew Scott

Review by Sean Boelman

Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley in RIPLEY. Credit: Courtesy of Netflix © 2024.

Created and directed in its entirety by Steven Zaillian (Oscar-winning screenwriter of Schindler’s List), the new miniseries Ripley is unquestionably indulgent but fittingly so for its source material. From the lead performance to the astounding cinematography, this psychological thriller has a lot to like.

Adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, this new series follows a man who is hired by the father of a wealthy socialite to bring his son back home, kicking off a dangerous web of lies and murder. Although many of the main beats will be known to audiences who have read Highsmith’s work or seen previous adaptations (including Anthony Minghella’s 1998 film), Ripley remains fresh thanks to incredible execution. 

One would hope that the eight-episode miniseries format would give writer-director Steven Zaillian more opportunity to explore the characters and themes of Highsmith’s work. For the most part, the added runtime instead goes to indulgence, but Zaillian has such an incredible grasp of the cinematic language that he draws viewers into the longer scenes, whether they’re dialogue-heavy or nearly free of speech.

This slower pacing is sure to put off viewers who are not willing to be patient. It takes until about the third episode for anything explosive to happen, which is certainly abnormal for a thriller like this. Still, so many of the show’s sequences are incredible at capturing the essence of Highsmith’s character and writing that it’s hard to deny its effectiveness.

Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley in RIPLEY. Credit: Courtesy of Netflix © 2024

Zaillian has also succeeded in making one of the most visually delicious series in streaming history. Of course, it certainly helps that the show is essentially a travelogue across the most beautiful vistas in Europe, but the pristine black-and-white cinematography was a brilliant decision, creating both atmosphere and beauty.

However, if there’s one person responsible for most of the success of this new adaptation, it’s Andrew Scott. The actor yet again proves that he’s one of the most gifted working today, bringing the suave yet deceitful charm necessary for this role. Ripley is a character that many actors have tried their hand at, and Scott really manages to make it his own, thriving in the nuance of the audience’s shifting perception of the eponymous fraudster.

One of the main areas where Ripley departs from the earlier adaptation of Highsmith’s novel is that the supporting cast does not hold their own against the lead. Johnny Flynn and Dakota Fanning are fine but forgettable — especially when compared to Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow. However, there are a few performances that stand out beyond Scott’s. The main one that comes to mind is Eliot Sumner, who only gets one episode but absolutely devours their part.

Ripley may be a bit slow to start, but there are many gripping episodes and sequences that make this adaptation worthy of your time, even if you know the story. And with Andrew Scott bringing such an incredible version of the iconic character to the small screen, one can only hope that this mini-series becomes an anthology, as Highsmith wrote plenty more of these adventures that could be adapted.

Ripley is now streaming on Netflix. All eight episodes reviewed.

​Rating: 4/5