His name is Ripley. Tom Ripley, A character so slippery he could slip through an Italian mansion without leaving a trace. Now he's back in black-and-white on Netflix -- and it feels both cold, beautiful and utterly seductive.
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Disclaimer: Apropos Magazine received access or a review copy. As always, we share our own impressions — unfiltered.
Six stars
Ripley is not just another true crime pastiche where we have to guess who the killer is. We know this all the time. It's Tom. And he does it with such calmness and aesthetics that you almost forget that this is murder we're talking about. The series, based on Patricia Highsmith's books, is equal parts Hitchcock and high fashion.
Andrew Scott is hypnotic as Ripley. It's not a role he plays -- it's a condition. He is both victim and predator, narcissist and safety addict. You don't know if you want to hide from him or be followed home with him. And perhaps that is precisely what makes it all so uncomfortably intense.
Johnny Flynn as the well-dressed daddy's boy Dicky Greenleaf is a perfect counterplay. Rich, restless, and so privileged that he doesn't notice when someone is trying to kill him -- until it's too late. Their relationship is like a slow duel with pastel-colored shirts and deadly passive aggression.
The series is shot in black-and-white, but nothing about it is black-and-white. It's a nightmare in slow motion, wrapped in architectural perfection and Italian sea views. Every picture is a composition, every scene a framed lie. You feel the coldness in Ripley's gaze and the sweat in his own palm.
And it's slow. On purpose. It's a series that drags you along -- not in a thrill rush, but in a controlled, manipulative dance in which every step feels like a little confession.
Are there flaws? Of course. Some of the supporting roles feel like stage rags. And the pace will no doubt have the speed-happy ones zapping away. But that's part of the premise. Ripley is not for everyone. It's for those who like when evil is dressed up nicely.
Reflection
Ripley is not just a series. It's a study in control, shame and beauty. It doesn't ask if you sympathize with the killer -- it just figures that you do. And somehow you do, too. Maybe because we all have a little Ripley in us -- a part that will be seen, loved, respected. Regardless of the price.
5 out of 5 Apropos stars. Because crime has never looked so good.
