Although Netflix’s Ripley is a masterpiece miniseries, this 10/10 thriller was almost entirely forgotten after its 2024 release. There are plenty of great Netflix thriller shows that everyone forgot, largely because of the streaming service’s sheer deluge of content and its refusal to release episodes weekly in favor of dropping entire seasons at a time.
While this model encourages viewers to binge shows, which can add a sense of momentum to thrillers in particular, it also discourages long-term discussion of projects. It is harder for Netflix shows to build suspense week by week when every episode is already available to view, and spoilers are often found on social media within 24 hours of a show’s release.
This was one of the divisive elements of 2024’s Ripley that ensured the show had little staying power with viewers after its release. However, this couldn’t have been a bigger shame, since Ripley is one of the best adaptations of a classic suspense novel, and one of the best thriller shows in general, from the last few decades.
2024’s Ripley Is Adapted From Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr Ripley
When 2024’s Ripley was first announced, the project immediately raised eyebrows. For one thing, the series adapts Patricia Highsmith’s iconic suspense novel The Talented Mr Ripley, originally released in 1955. While The Talented Mr Ripley is the most famous of Highsmith’s Ripley novels, the book had also already been adapted to the screen twice before.
1960’s Purple Noon was a critical success, but it is hardly surprising that Netflix would see fit to revisit a French movie from 64 years ago. What made Ripley’s source material more surprising is the fact that a very faithful, much more recent movie adaptation with a starry cast was released only 16 years before Ripley’s 2024 arrival.
Directed by the late, great Anthony Minghella, 1998’s The Talented Mr Ripley starred Matt Damon as the titular con artist, Jude Law as his free-spirited mark Dickie Greenleaf, and Gwyneth Paltrow as Dickie’s suspicious girlfriend, Marge. Jack Davenport, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cate Blanchett, and Philip Baker Hall rounded out the cast.
Dark, poignant, and unsettling, The Talented Mr Ripley was a star-making project for both Law and Damon. Minghella’s movie was critically acclaimed upon release and only became more lauded in the years since, so Ripley’s adaptation of the same story was a jarring surprise when the miniseries was first announced.
To make matters even stranger, the title character was played by Andrew Scott in the Netflix miniseries, despite his comparatively advanced age. While the deservedly acclaimed Scott is one of the most celebrated actors of his generation, he was also in his late ‘40s when he portrayed Ripley. Both he and his mark, Dickie, are in their early 20s in the source material.
2024’s Ripley Is Even Better Than 1998’s The Talented Mr Ripley
To make this casting less jarring, Ripley ages up both Marge and Dickie’s actors, thus obscuring the youthful Scott’s actual age. Johnny Flynn, who plays Dickie, was around 40 at the time of filming, while Dakota Fanning, who plays Marge, was around 30. While there is almost two decades between Scott and Fanning, all three are well removed from their early 20s.
This works in the show’s favor, although the fact that viewers don’t notice the age difference is mostly a credit to Scott’s dazzling performance. While Scott’s first major mainstream fame came as Sherlock’s antagonist Moriarty, the actor has since impressed in a diverse array of projects from 2014’s Pride and 2023’s All of Us Strangers to 2019’s Fleabag season 2.
While Ripley’s ending features the protagonist’s most bone-chilling moments, Scott’s performance elevates the thriller throughout. More detached and soulless than Damon’s tortured take on the character, Scott’s Ripley is less obviously sympathetic. It’s a darker, more daring take on the iconic con man, and one that makes it tougher for viewers to relate to the show’s quick-thinking, amoral protagonist.
Flynn and Fanning provide superb work alongside Scott’s mesmerizing lead role, and The Night of’s Steven Zaillian keeps the twists coming with aplomb. A superb supporting cast, including Kenneth Lonergan, Bokeem Woodbine, and John Malkovich, rounds out Ripley’s appeal, which makes the show’s lack of cultural impact a little mystifying. However, there is an unfortunate explanation.
Why Netflix’s Ripley Was Forgotten So Soon
While 2023’s Saltburn wasn’t a box office success, the buzzy suspense thriller did get audiences talking, albeit not always for the right reasons. Star Barry Keoghan’s lead performance might have been undeniably fearless, but director Emerald Fennell’s sophomore feature offered viewers little of substance beneath its provocations.
More pertinently, numerous critics noted the striking unacknowledged similarities between Saltburn and The Talented Mr. Ripley, with YouTube creator Brody Deschanel painstakingly outlining the myriad moments of direct “Borrowing” in a popular video. Thus, in early 2024, Ripley’s release was effectively overshadowed by the plagiarism arguments over Saltburn.
As Fennel’s movie was accused of copying The Talented Mr Ripley, the actual new adaptation of Highsmith’s novel was largely ignored. Ironically, Ripley was undoubtedly the stronger story, but the miniseries was sadly lost in the miasma of controversy surrounding its competitor.
Source: Brody Deschanel (via YouTube)
- Release Date
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2024 – 2023
- Showrunner
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Steven Zaillian
- Directors
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Steven Zaillian
