The Woman in Cabin 10 feels destined to be the next in the ever-growing collection of Netflix movies that come and go like the wind, holding no lasting cultural significance. To be fair, the streaming giant has its fair share of hits. But with their “quantity over quality” strategy, for every Marriage Story, Hit Man, or Da 5 Bloods, there are countless other movies that are forgotten about at the snap of a finger. Despite a promising setup and Keira Knightley’s best efforts, this psychological thriller can’t avoid the same fate that has befallen so many other Netflix originals.
What is The Woman in Cabin 10 about?
Based on Ruth Ware’s popular novel of the same name, The Woman in Cabin 10 stars Keira Knightley as Lo Blacklock, a journalist aboard the maiden voyage of a luxury yacht. Mingling with a guest list of billionaires, she was invited to cover the beginning of a cancer research foundation started by Norwegian shipping heiress Anne Lyngstad, who herself has stage four leukemia.
The trip takes a dark turn, however, when Lo sees a passenger fall (thrown?) overboard on the first night. Or does she? All the passengers and crew are accounted for, and she has no one else to corroborate her story. Convinced of what she saw, she continues digging, putting her own life at risk.
The Woman in Cabin 10 Review
Gaslight: The Movie is a great elevator pitch, and that’s essentially what we have with The Woman in Cabin 10. It creates easy tension, with the “one person against the world” mentality it instantly imposes on the main character. Here, that’s Keira Knightley’s Lo. Adding to the tension, this is her first assignment since a source from her last story was murdered just for speaking with her.
Knightley is consistently a highlight, doing a terrific job conveying the maddening frustration Lo is going through. She’s certain of what she saw, but is being rebuffed at every turn. Maybe she wasn’t fully awake, or maybe she was projecting the terrible memories of what happened to her previous source.
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Her one ally through it all is ex-boyfriend Ben Morgan (David Ajala), a photographer who has been hired to capture the events of the trip. Though his support is more because he’s worried about her, and less that he believes her. But still, something is better than nothing.
Lo’s investigation should follow the same general format as a whodunnit. Assuming what she thinks she saw is actually what she saw, everyone on the yacht is a suspect. And while she would have to search for motivation for why these people would throw someone overboard, they all have reasons to want to cover it up, even if they weren’t directly involved. And with the guests being the richest of the rich, they would all have the means to do so.
However, that’s not what happens. Lo, this supposed well-known, top of her field journalist doesn’t investigate anyone. She only kind of wanders around the yacht, hoping to find clues while trying to avoid some lazy attempts both to bump her off and to get her to stop snooping around.
Besides the surface plot, this also could have been a reflection on how past trauma manifests itself in your present, how it affects you in ways you never would have imagined. Maybe that’s what’s happening and Lo really is losing it, as suggested by more than one person on the yacht.
It could have been an incisive look at the wealthy elite. With all their money, power, and resources, they think they can do whatever they want without any consequences. Armed with nothing but the truth, can one person take them down and hold them accountable?
And while the script touches on those ideas, it does nothing with them. The story only wanted to present these themes, but doesn’t seem interested in making any actual statement about them.
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The tone is another problem. Given the subject matter, most would probably expect a darker, more serious mood. And they would be right, mostly. Opening the movie, Lo meets with her boss Rowan (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), and they have some playful banter. Once Lo boards the yacht and sees Ben, those two also have some fun back and forth. There’s also clearly some simmering sexual tension between the exes.
But none of that comes back throughout the rest of the movie. If it’s going to be included, then make it matter. What’s the point in setting Lo up as fun, witty, and flirty-when-she-wants-to-be if those traits are going to be abandoned literally minutes later?
It’s not a complaint you see too often, but The Woman in Cabin 10 should have been longer. There are a lot of good elements present here that just needed more time to be fleshed out. At only 95 minutes, there was plenty of runway to add more depth to Lo and other characters, and to add some real meat to the story.
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On a positive note, this is a great cast. In addition to Knightley and Ajala, Guy Pearce plays Richard Bullmer, Anne’s husband. Hannah Waddingham and Kaya Scodelario are two other guests who are given a handful of the scarce moments to inject some energy into the story.
And credit where credit is due, director Simon Stone (The Dig) put together some effective filming. Using different camera angles and the general idea of being stuck on a yacht in the middle of the ocean, he’s able to make you feel what Lo is feeling. You’re tense and uneasy in all the moments you should be, and that is amplified by the directing.
Is The Woman in Cabin 10 worth watching?
The Woman in Cabin 10 is the kind of mid-tier movie we’ve come to expect from Netflix. Not great, not terrible. Just entertaining enough to hold your attention and then completely forget as soon as the credits roll.
The Woman in Cabin 10 releases on Netflix on October 10.
