An 8 episode miniseries had better be a good mystery. In this case, you’re sitting through 6 full hours of USA Network mystery/thriller, expecting something big at the end. Jessica Biel is a big pull, she stars in it and co-produced it. But is it worth all the hype?
The Sinner
TV-14 | 1h | Drama, Mystery, Thriller | TV Series (2017)
A young mother tries to find out what’s causing her to have violent tendencies.
Creator: Derek Simonds
Stars: Jessica Biel, Christopher Abbott, Dohn Norwood
This review contains spoilers. This story starts interesting. You have a woman who has never been violent, a mom and wife on a beach who all of a sudden in front of her husband and child proceeds to stab a man sitting on the towel in front of her. She gives no reason other than the fact that she told him to turn down his music. This character is played by Jessica Biel.
The investigator on the case (Bill Pullman) becomes obsessed with the case. He can’t accept she would do such a think without a reason. He goes hot on the case finding clues here and there, getting chided by his colleagues for helping a clear murderer try and figure out what happened. A side story deals with his own demons of a sexual nature and his marriage that is quickly crumbling.
Christopher Abbot plays a similar character to what we usually see from him: the cool New Yorker who can snap at any moment. He adds very little to the suspense or story. By the 6th episode I could see they had nothing to unearth. I was right. This film draws you in under false pretenses and leaves you with a very weak explanation for the crime. It was fun watching because I expected something. At the end there was no worthy explanation and it felt like I’d wasted 2-3 episodes’ time. I would like to see more shows like this but with a plot that justify the initial tension of the crime.
6/10
