February Binges: Agatha Christie's Seven Dials, His & Hers, Ponies

There's been a lot of new TV recently and the weather has been freezing. So I stayed on the couch and got through a lot of binges. Join me, why don't you?

Agatha Christie's Seven Dials: I fell in love with Agatha Christie mystery novels when I was a teenager and have watched many TV and movie adaptations of her work. So naturally I was going to binge this three-episode miniseries to my heart's content. Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Chris Sweeney, like all great British period dramas, this adaptation boasts an all-star cast and some impeccable costume and production design. 

Our main protagonist is Lady Eileen "Bundle" Brent (Mia McKenna-Bruce), a young socialite who has fallen on hard times after the death of her father. She and her mother (played by THE Helena Bonham-Carter) have rented out their house to an odious "new money" couple for a house party one weekend. Of course, that's when tragedy strikes, with the death of a man that Bundle was especially close to. The verdict is suicide, but Bundle knows that cannot be right, leading to a murder investigation that will require the sleuthing skills of Superintendent Battle (played by Martin Freeman). 

I have read the book this series was based on, but I must admit I have no recollection of the plot being quite so convoluted. It does appear there were certain additional twists and turns that make it less than a faithful adaptation, but it's certainly a fun one and an excellent way to kill three hours of a dreary afternoon.

His & Hers: Based on the 2020 novel by Alice Feeney, William Oldroyd has developed this adaptation alongside showrunner Dee Johnson, moving the action from England to Georgia and pulling in heavy hitters like Tessa Thompson and Jon Bernthal to star. Thompson plays Anna Andrews, a local news anchor who disappeared for a year after some tragedy but has now returned and is determined to get her job back. She's been replaced by Lexy Jones (Rebecca Rittenhouse) but Anna thinks she can prove her skills by working as a field reporter on a recent murder that took place in the town where she grew up. Who is the detective investigating that homicide? Her estranged husband, Jack (Bernthal). 

Turns out Anna also has a connection to the victim, and things just keep getting twistier from there. This is the type of mystery where absolutely everybody is a suspect, and yet, in the final half hour, you'll discover that you were wrong all along. Is it kind of ridiculous? Yes. But was it also the absolute perfect six-episode binge for my friend Laura and I to indulge in while I was over at her house for a grown-up sleepover? You bet!

Ponies: Created by Susanna Fogel and David Iserson, this is a weird and wonderful show set in 1977 Moscow. We follow Bea and Twila (Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson), the wives of two US CIA agents, who mysteriously die while on a mission. The two women are desperate for answers, so they petition the CIA to let them become undercover spies, as the KGB will never suspect the Americans are now using women to do their dirty work. These women have absolutely no experience in spycraft, but they are scrappy and intelligent (Bea went to Wellesley, godammit!), and they are determined to figure out who is responsible for the death of their husbands. So what follows is an elaborate cat-and-mouse game as they cultivate Russian assets and learn to become spies, while reconciling with their own grief and feelings of personal inadequacy. 

In only eight episodes, there are so many twists and turns, but the whole thing ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, so prepare to feel unsatisfied. These actresses are delivering killer performances, and the story is wildly engaging, but the tone also veers all over the place, sometimes feeling extremely serious and dramatic, but oftentimes featuring a lot of comic shtick that can make you wonder if they really even miss their husbands at all. It's an odd but scrappy little show, much like its central protagonists, and while it may be an acquired taste, I'll certainly be tuning in for Season 2.

February Movies Part 1: It Was Just an Accident & The Secret Agent

I am ahead of schedule and have watched the last two Oscar movies on my list. Both were foreign films: one I loved, the other I found to be overhyped and dull. Aren’t you excited to find out which one’s which?!

It Was Just an Accident: Written and directed by Jafar Panahi, this is a brilliant Iranian movie about a man who thinks he has identified his former tormentor from when he was imprisoned by the regime and decides to kidnap and murder him for vengeance. 

Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) runs a garage and spots Eghbal (Ebrahim Azizi) when he comes in to get his car serviced. Eghbal has a squeaky prosthetic leg, and when Vahid hears that sound, he is immediately triggered, as that was the sound he always heard while he was blindfolded and being tortured for months in an Iranian prison. He follows Eghbal to his house and later to a street where he manages to kidnap him and drive him away to a remote location, where he plans to bury him alive.

I know that everything I have described so far sounds extremely dark and horrific. So let me be the first to say I was shocked by how funny this movie could get. It is the blackest of comedies, and as it progresses, you will find yourself in awe of this deft screenplay that threads such a delicate needle between comedy and despair. I won’t spoil too much, but let’s just say that Vahid starts to experience some doubts about this whole kidnapping and murder scheme and recruits some of his fellow former prisoners to help him sort out what needs to happen next. Which leads to a lot of confusion and anger on their part.

This movie is beautifully acted and quite extraordinary, a wonderful tale of resistance against an oppressive regime that continues to crack down on its people today. The final moments of this film feature a chilling bit of sound design that I would award a special Oscar to all on its own. Of all the foreign films I watched this year, this is the one I admired and loved the most.

The Secret Agent: Written and directed by Kleber Mendonca Filho, this is a fictional movie set in 1977 during the Brazilian military dictatorship. Wagner Moura plays Armando, a widower who has been targeted as a dissident. He needs to flee the country with his young son and has enlisted the help of an undercover resistance network to smuggle him out of the country. While he waits for forged documents and an opportunity, he has assumed a new identity and is hiding out with other dissidents, desperately hoping to go unnoticed. Separately, we also follow some history students in the present day, who are researching audio recordings that the resistance network made with people like Armando, trying to piece together his story.

I cannot say I understand the hype around this movie at all. Why is it the favorite to win Best Foreign Film, with an additional nomination for Best Picture? Moura is a good actor, but this movie is a dud, plodding along a nearly three-hour runtime with occasional bouts of action, but mostly long stretches of dull exposition or fantastical sequences that left me cold. The soundtrack is rather wonderful, but other than that, there was nothing particularly captivating about this film. Sometimes it feels like critics just decide they’ve suddenly discovered the cinema of a particular country and need to award it. But comparing this movie to last year’s I’m Still Here, a Brazilian movie set in the same time period, I can’t help but see the stark difference in quality and emotion. 

Feel free to watch this movie and tell me I’m wrong, like all the other critics who love this movie so. But my mind continues to be boggled at why anyone thinks this film is more deserving of awards than the other great foreign films that came out this year.