Ripley

“Patricia Highsmith’s novel was a thriller where the reader always sensed something awful coming down the tracks. That air of dread is wonderfully conjured by Ripley writer Steven Zaillian, a Hollywood veteran whose credits include Schindler’s List and HBO’s The Night Of. He has provided the perfect platform for Andrew Scott to bring the thrills and chills. Forget Hot Priest – ice-cool Ripley is the man in black (and white) he was born to play.”
Ed Power, The i

“Be in no doubt, this adaptation is stunning. It is a work of art. Scott, as you would expect, is outstanding — mesmeric as the polite, clever but ruthless psychopath. Repeated reference is made to Caravaggio’s use of light. Well, Zaillian’s use of it isn’t half bad either. Every shot is like one of those arty black-and-white postcards you can buy in galleries.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“From the opening shot of Scott dragging a body down a stone staircase in a Rome apartment block, Ripley is a collage of images evoking cinema masterpieces. His shadow looms vast on the wall, a long-haired cat watches him with diabolical interest – this isn’t just television, it’s a homage to great 1940s directors such as Carol Reed or Alfred Hitchcock.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“The series covers the same ground as The Talented Mr Ripley, Anthony Minghella’s 1999 film. But whereas that version was sun-drenched and gorgeous, this one is made in dispiriting black and white. Individual shots look beautiful, but the overall effect is deadening.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“With those who find it initially slow, or the relentless monochrome beauty slightly exhausting or pretentious, I understand entirely. But stick with it; allow yourself to yield to both and let Ripley seduce you. There is magic at work here.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“Ripley is often fairly decent. The cliff sides of the Amalfi Coast and the back streets of Capri are captured breathtakingly, the show’s black-and-white photography only enhancing the expense it seemingly took to put all of this together. Rather, Ripley falters because of its leading man, the typically very good Andrew Scott, who feels all wrong for this. Dressed in a leather jacket and sporting greased-up hair, he looks more like a lost Mitchell brother than a high society interloper. You never quite get used to it.”
Adam White, The Independent