TV Pick of the Week: Malice - review by Yvette Huddleston
Malice Prime Video, review by Yvette Huddleston
In his first leading dramatic role, comedian Jack Whitehall acquits himself extremely well in this gripping psychological thriller. He plays private tutor Adam Healey who is hired by wealthy couple Jules (Christine Adams) and Damien (Raza Jaffrey) to coach their teenage daughter as she prepares for her exams.
The family are invited for a fortnight’s stay on an idyllic Greek island at the luxurious beachfront holiday home of arrogant American businessman Jamie Tanner (David Duchovny), a venture capitalist of the worst kind, and his French fashion designer wife Nat (Carice van Houten). Jamie and Nat have three children between them who are being looked after by the family’s Australian nanny.
It is clear from the outset that Adam has some sort of malevolent agenda. We see him rifling through Jamie’s expensive hand luggage and pocketing the man’s passport, which he later throws from their luxury sailing boat. He is also, it seems, responsible for the life-threatening bout of ‘food poisoning’ suffered by the Tanners’ nanny, which, after a spell in hospital, requires her to return home to Australia (with a little unseen persuasion from Adam). It means the family has a vacancy for a nanny, a position which they then offer to Adam.
He also ingratiates himself with Jamie, taking him on a compromising crawl around the island’s bars, getting him so drunk that he can’t remember his actions and getting him into trouble with the local police when a neighbour with whom has had a property dispute is assaulted by someone ‘speaking English’. Although this happens off screen, we suspect that Adam is responsible. Both are hauled in for questioning – requiring them to present their passports, which is when Jamie discovers that his has disappeared…
There are elements of The Talented Mr Ripley here in terms of the class envy and resentment and the cool, calm and collected evil of Whitehall’s character. It is a chilling performance. What isn’t obvious initially is where Adam’s thirst for vengeance comes from but it seems that he has a long-term plan of some kind and wants to make Jamie, in particular, “suffer the way that I have.” He sets about disrupting the family’s life in various ways including sowing seeds of doubt in Jamie’s mind about his wife’s fidelity and informing the police about their teenage son’s cocaine stash. All the while Adam seems charming, likeable and extremely helpful. It’s flashy, a little bit trashy, and hugely watchable. A great, bingeable festive watch.