The Woman in Cabin 10 film assessment: Keira Knightley cruises alongside on this shiny bauble

A 3-day cruise on a brilliant yacht, a gaggle of entitled suspects, a homicide and an unreliable witness absolutely are the components for a enjoyable whodunit. The Woman in Cabin 10, tailored from Ruth Ware’s eponymous 2016 novel, sadly, is just not very jolly, as all the things feels rushed and one doesn’t really feel invested within the protagonist.

Laura (Keira Knightley) name me “Lo” (there must be a ban in opposition to foolish nicknames, particularly as one is but to get well from Belly in The Summer I Turned Pretty), is a critical journalist writing in regards to the plight of Kurdish girls. After a traumatic occasion wherein her supply is killed for talking to her, Lo decides to just accept an invite to go on the maiden voyage of a brilliant yacht.

The yacht is owned by a billionaire, Richard Bullmer (Guy Pearce), whose oil heiress spouse, Anne (Lisa Loven Kongsli), is affected by most cancers. The yacht, Aurora Borealis, will finish its voyage with a fundraiser in Norway.

On the yacht are donors, board members and Bullmer’s mates, together with rich, snarky, jaded Adam Sutherland (Daniel Ings), outdated cash energy couple, Thomas (David Morrissey), and Heidi (Hannah Waddingham), tech magnate Lars Jensen (Christopher Rygh), and his purely-for-optics influencer/mannequin girlfriend, Grace (Kaya Scodelario), and a has-been rockstar Danny Tyler (Paul Kaye).

Lo comes on board and meets the friends/suspects, together with ex-boyfriend, Ben (David Ajala), who’s the official photographer for the cruise. Dr Mehta (Art Malik) takes care of Anne, whereas the Valkyrie-like safety officer, Sigrid (Amanda Collin), chief steward, Karla (Pippa Bennett-Warner), and Captain John Addis (John Macmillan), symbolize the staff-side story.

To keep away from Ben, with whom she had an unsightly break-up, Lo steps into cabin 10 to see a lady come out of the bathe, whom she later sees being thrown overboard. With the crew and friends insisting cabin 10 was empty, Lo finds herself mistrusting the proof of her eyes.

Agatha Christie, who Ware counts as her inspiration, was in a position to create distinct characters with only a few phrases. As readers, one by no means confused the drunken, failed author with the socialist royal hiding his signet ring. When adapting Christie on display, the trick is to solid identified names as a shorthand to establishing the characters.

An analogous precept is adopted right here, however with not as a lot of an impact because the characters stay cardboard cutouts, regardless of the solid’s greatest efforts. They appear to sneer and be typically nasty for no explicit cause. Gugu Mbatha-Raw is wasted as Lo’s editor, Rowan. The thriller is solved someplace in the midst of the film, after which we’ve got to slog by way of some teeth-gnashing scenery-chewing performing to achieve the conclusion.

Director Simon Stone, who helmed the splendidly meditative The Dig, has ensured wonderful manufacturing values, together with capturing on a $150 million yacht referred to as the Savannah. And due to the quick run time and Knightley’s attractive wardrobe, the journey doesn’t appear such a drag.

The Woman in Cabin 10 is presently streaming on Netflix