Obsession (Netflix series, 2023)
Obsession is a limited series based on the novel Damage by Josephine Hart, about a talented man who risks it all on a relationship with his son’s fiancée.
I am old enough to remember the first adaptation of the novel. That was the movie Damages that Louis Malle made in 1992, starring Jeremy Irons as a Member of Parliament and Juliette Binoche as his amour.
And very good it was too. Miranda Richardson received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress as the politician’s wife.
The new version is pretty good too. The source material is simply too good to be anything less than enjoyable.
Having said that, the movie was cool, calm and collected, while the series wears its heart much more on its sleeve.
In this version, Richard Armitage plays William Farrow, not a politician but a brilliant surgeon, the kind who separates conjoined twins at birth to save their lives.
In fact he is so celebrated by all and sundry that he seems well on his way to become the country’s next Health Czar.
I like Armitage. He played the lead in the excellent Harlan Coben adaptation The Stranger and he is in fine form here as well.
At a party William meets the attractive Anna (Charlie Murphy), who is the new girlfriend of his son Jay (Rish Shah).
William loves both his wife Ingrid, (Indira Varma) and his son, and he doesn’t want to hurt them, but of course he does.
‘Marriage is about trust,’ she tells him. ‘I’m sure you have everything under control.’
But of course he doesn’t.
William becomes obsessed by Anna, but she has to be with Jay too.
‘There is no version of this where it’s just you,’ Anna tells William.
Yet they fall hard for each other in what ultimately can only become a very destructive relationship.
‘Damaged people are dangerous,’ Anna says at one point. ‘They know how to survive.’
As erotic thrillers go this is better than 50 Shades of Grey but not quite as great as Basic Instinct.
Some of the sex stuff is a bit silly, but hey, whatever tickles your fancy.
Kudos to Anne Dudley (from The Art of Noise) for her Hitchcock-inspired score, which adds an extra touch of class to the project.
This four part series is basically a two-and-a-half-hour movie, so if you start it you will probably race through it.
By then the damage is done. Good stuff!
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