News
‘Anatomy of a Scandal’ Review: Michelle Dockery and Sienna Miller star in a twisted courtroom mystery surrounding privileges and politics
Although it is a famous man who is charged (hence the “scandal” part), the six-episode project is defined by two women: the lawyer who pursues the case and the wife who wants to stand by her husband but gets reason to doubt Hi M.
The accusation and related revelations come as an understandable shock to Whitehouse’s wife Sophie (Sienna Miller), who is plagued by images of the consensual connection while having a hard time believing that her husband could commit an act of violence.
“Anatomy of a Scandal” is directed by SJ Clarkson and does reasonably well in keeping the audience guessing, and does less in its liberal use of flashbacks regarding the elite private school that Whitehouse went on with the Prime Minister (Geoffrey Streatfeild) , suggesting a “Boys will be boys” attitude that prevailed at the time and that could have contributed to the bond between them.
At its core, the story is rooted in Dockery, who beautifully portrays a character who holds his own secrets; and Miller, whose outwardly idyllic existence is shaken in a way that forces her to question what she knows about the man she married.
Granted, Netflix and its rivals have released fares with similar themes, both in dramatic formats and documentary series. Still, “Anatomy of a Scandal” overcomes its shortcomings well enough to lay the groundwork for what is destined to become an ongoing franchise of tightly constructed stand-alone thrillers.
The bones for that are clearly there. The trick that this first lesson in “Anatomy” demonstrates is to find the right wrinkles to deepen them.
“Anatomy of a Scandal” premieres on April 15 on Netflix.
Updating Netflix culture guidelines tells employees: ‘If you do not like our content, you can quit’
