Get ready to make room for a new TV show in your life, mystery lovers! Sharp Objects is coming to HBO in July, and it's the psychological delight you've been waiting for
It’s no secret that we’re a well-watched bunch here at Honeycombers Hong Kong HQ. From classic Hong Kong movies that take us back to different eras to the latest and greatest on our What We’re Watching column, we’re all about that TV life. So, when HBO shared some details about their new mystery show coming to screens in July, my interest was peaked by the phrase “psychological puzzle”. I’m so thrilled to have been able to watch this show pretty much back-to-back (thanks, HBO!) Check out this review of Sharp Objects the TV show, and meet your new obsession.
Review of Sharp Objects the TV show
On my very first day of film school, the first statement out of my professor’s mouth was: “You’re never going to watch a movie in the same way again.” And it’s true, I over-analyse everything: calling out continuity issues, cliché mise-en-scène, and soundtracks that bite; let’s just say I’m not a joy to watch a film with, and now that TV shows are mini films, I’m not always a joy to watch them with either.
Luckily, I had to watch Sharp Objects by myself, meaning I could bathe in the rare, sheer joy of a delightful production coupled with stellar acting and a soundtrack that resonates perfectly–I’m talking The Everly Brothers, and other great American classics. While other publications have called Jean-Marc Vallée’s directing and sometimes-editing “flashy”, I do not agree. Translating the world created originally in a book is a tough task, and the best adaptations have been executed by auteurs who create a deepness that encapsulates the tiny details from the page (think Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Lovely Bones.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgljcMqPG98
Yes. The show is an adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s award-winning book of the same name, which I have not read. Yes. It does star Amy Adams as a journalist confronted by issues from her past that include murder and “psychological puzzles”. But Sharp Objects, the TV show at least, is so much more than that.
It’s about relationships with family, with friends, with old, with new, with demons (sentient and inanimate), and at its core it’s about trust. Set in a small fictional mid-west town in the States, where everyone knows everyone, and everyone knows everything, the show will definitely be a hit with anyone who didn’t grow up in a big city, and probably with those who did. Lovers of shows like Twin Peaks and True Detective will also want to watch out for this one, plus any fans of psychological Scandinavian crime dramas like Midnight Sun or Trapped.
As Camille Preaker, Adams shines, proving that she is an actor who thrives with great writing and a brilliant script, but for me, the real star of the show is Eliza Scanlen who plays the teenage step-sister to Preaker, a young girl who is both bold and introverted, loved and fiercely disliked. I don’t want to ruin anything, but let’s just say she’s going to go far, and probably on roller skates.
I was so excited to write this review of Sharp Objects the TV show, and I personally hate it when reviews go on for too long, but what I will say is this, Sharp Objects isn’t the fastest moving series, and it’s like that for a reason. The pace the drama is told at, in part, is a story-telling device used to heighten that small-town feel, so don’t give up after episode one. Block out your diaries for each new episode and revel in the magic of cinema on the small screen. They say they don’t make ’em like that any more, but actually, they do.
The eight-episode limited drama series, will be streaming on HBO GO and will be available on HBO On Demand.