Review Disclaimer (Apple TV+): Alfonso Cuarón’s series handles its mystery wonderfully

Six years after the multi-Oscar winner Roma from Netflix, Alfonso Cuarón is back with the series Disclaimeravailable on Apple TV+ and Canal+ from October 11, 2024.

The adaptation of Renée Knight’s acclaimed novel finds the ideal director in the Mexican filmmaker, and stands out as one of the best series of the end of the year. Here is our review, guaranteed without spoilers.

The history of the series

Catherine Ravenscroft is a journalist known for highlighting the misdeeds and transgressions of others. When she receives a novel by an unknown author in the mail, she realizes with horror that she is now the main character in a story that exposes her darkest secrets.

As Catherine struggles to discover the true identity of the novel’s author, she is forced to confront her past before it destroys her life and affects her husband Robert and their son Nicholas.

Our review

Two families. Two sons. A tragedy. A mysterious novel. Despite its simplicity, the book Revealed by Renée Knight shows astonishing virtuosity in the development of her thriller, which captured many readers upon its publication in 2016. The same mastery is found today in this extremely effective adaptation.

With DisclaimerAlfonso Cuarón thus constructs a drama in six bands, with at its center a terrible story between past and present, populated by contradictory beings. A character study through which Cuarón questions our management of grief and our compromises with love, family, secrecy and truth.

From this promising plot, which was already the heart of Knight’s novel, Cuarón delivers a mystery in seven chapters in which he brilliantly saves twists and turns in order to keep us captive until the last second. A ballet of imperfect human beings caught up in a Greek tragedy, which it is fascinating to watch unfold before our eyes.

We could be afraid that the filmmaker would miss the serial exercise, sinking into a poorly structured feature film structure. This is not the case, and it is the intelligence of the writing that is most striking, recalling at times the spirit of the works of Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl, Sharp Objects).

With the finesse of the best showrunners, he even allows himself a brilliant final chapter at the Rashōmon (film by Akira Kurosawa released in 1950), which overturns everything he had built up to now. It is also good to note that Disclaimer stirs up many rather violent themes and is not for all sensibilities.

Followers of the Mexican filmmaker will also find his significant production, favoring the wide-angle to better install his drama at the heart of a living and moving world, like the Son of Man et Roma. This is supported by the sublime photography fashioned by his friend Emmanuel Lubezki and the Frenchman Bruno Delbonnel.

More Disclaimer also and above all applies to the score delivered by its ensemble of actors. If Sasha Baron Cohen is not the most convincing in his role, Kevin Kline (A Fish Named Wanda) et Cate Blanchett (Carol, Blue Jasmine) are amazed by their accuracy. A joy to watch play.

The program may put off some, cooled by an inaugural episode with a leisurely pace, the omnipresent narration, and the harshness of its story. But once started, the series doesn’t stop and can be devoured without difficulty. If the book was a page-turner, Disclaimer turns out to be a real “episode-turner”.

The series Disclaimer is available on Apple TV+ and Canal+ from October 11.

• Watch the trailer for the series:

Conclusion

Overall rating