Although Netflix’s The Woman in Cabin 10 failed to win over critics, its success on the streaming service proves that readers need to seek out the original book. It is vanishingly rare to find a true 10/10 thriller book. Even many great authors stumble at the final hurdle when it comes to penning a killer thriller.
Whether the twist is too predictable or too far fetched, a bad ending can often completely derail an otherwise promising thriller novel. Many near-miss 10/10 thriller books are ruined by one misjudged subplot, corny character, or bad ending, and this makes it increasingly hard to find a truly thrilling thriller that doesn’t let readers down in the end.
Fortunately, English author Ruth Ware has been steadily righting this wrong since 2015. The author’s mystery debut from 2015, In a Dark, Dark Wood, is a modern classic, but it was the next year’s The Woman in Cabin 10 that became her breakthrough hit internationally. Recently adapted to film by Netflix, The Woman in Cabin 10 stars Kiera Knightley.
Netflix’s The Woman in Cabin 10 Is Adapted From Ruth Ware’s Thriller Novel
Ware’s Acclaimed Novel Was Released In 2016
Although the movie adaptation does veer away from the book’s original story near the end, The Woman in Cabin 10 is otherwise a largely faithful retelling. Most importantly, The Woman in Cabin 10 maintains the novel’s killer setup, wherein a journalist ends up in over her head when she joins a luxury cruise ship on its maiden voyage.
Lo Blacklock is running from a dark past of her own when she agrees to join the Aurora Borealis super yacht on its first trip. However, her problems only go from bad to worse when she witnesses what looks like a woman being thrown overboard early in the voyage. When Lo raises the alarm, she is told no such person exists.
The passengers are seemingly all accounted for, meaning Lo either imagined this entire incident or someone is covering up something terrible. To say more would be to give away some of the many twists and turns of the novel and the movie, but suffice to say, nothing is as it seems on board the Aurora Borealis.
Lo’s story is thrilling, twisty, and inventive, so it is no surprise that the novel earned an adaptation from Netflix. However, while The Woman in Cabin 10’s cast of characters includes major stars like Knightley, Kaya Scodelario, and Guy Pearce, the adaptation never quite recaptures the propulsive storytelling of Ware’s novel.
The Woman in Cabin 10 Doesn’t Live Up To Ware’s Original Novel
The Kiera Knightley Adaptation Struggled With Critics Upon Release
Like her many other thrillers, Ware’s The Woman in Cabin 10 thrives on its simplicity. Dumping the characters together in an isolated location where no one can leave or arrive is hardly innovative, but this is the exact setup that drives classics from Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None to Lucy Foley’s The Hunting Party.
Ware’s book cleverly toys with the reader’s expectations, expertly dropping in classic murder mystery tropes only to subvert them with a fresh twist every time. Between the Knives Out franchise and Kenneth Branagh’s recent Hercule Poirot movies, director Simon Stone’s The Woman in Cabin 10 has plenty of competition from other starry murder mysteries.
Sadly, Stone is unable to recapture the novel’s effective, twisty mystery. The low Rotten Tomatoes rating that The Woman in Cabin 10 received proves that the movie lacks the urgency of Ware’s book, while its new conclusion is more convoluted than the novel’s streamlined twist ending.
The Woman in Cabin 10’s Netflix Popularity Underlines The Strength of Ware’s Novel
Even A Middling Adaptation of The Woman in Cabin 10 Is Still Strong
It might be hard to see how The Woman in Cabin 10 managed to become Netflix’s biggest new movie over the weekend when its critical reception has been largely mixed to negative. This impressive achievement is a testament to the strength of Ware’s writing. The plot is still a cracking mystery, even if the movie’s direction is more plodding than propulsive.
Ware’s book is the stronger version of the story, and readers who love a good mystery need to seek it out rather than watch the disappointing Netflix adaptation. However, for anyone who has already read the book, the movie is a perfect example of good source material shining through shoddy execution.
Like 2025’s earlier British crime mystery adaptation from Netflix, The Thursday Murder Club, The Woman in Cabin 10 doesn’t live up to its source material. However, like that Chris Columbus movie, it is still worth watching thanks to the strength of the original material.
Some 10/10 thrillers feature twist endings that simply wouldn’t work on screen, as their entire execution is unique to the book format. However, others, like The Woman in Cabin 10, are full of cinematic detail and seemingly primed for a promising screen adaptation.
Sadly, the Knightley vehicle fumbled the book’s killer storyline with flat direction and too much plot detail. That said, The Woman in Cabin 10 remains a must-read mystery thriller for fans of the whodunit genre, despite the Netflix adaptation’s shortcomings.
- Release Date
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October 10, 2025
- Director
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Simon Stone
- Writers
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Anna Waterhouse, Joe Shrapnel, Simon Stone, Ruth Ware
