User reviews

Better late than never, this Bank Holiday weekend I finally found the time to catch up with "The Undoing", another of 2020's zeitgeist shows that I missed at the time. I don't think I've got any grand new perspective to offer here, I found it a well-acted drama, with a couple of interesting twists, but with an ending that I found a little underwhelming.

The life of privilege that Grace Fraser (Nicole Kidman) enjoys begins to unravel when her husband Jonathan (Hugh Grant) is accused of murder. The victim is Elena Alves (Matilda De Angelis) an artist, whose son attends the same school as the Frasers son, Henry (Noah Jupe). Grace learns that Jonathan has been hiding aspects of his life from her for years, not least that he and Elena have been having an affair.

So what did I really think? I thought that it was reasonably enjoyable. I liked the fact that the episodes often ended on cliff-hangers, or with potentially major reveals, however, they were a little less effective than they might be, given that I watched the whole series over a couple of days. The performances were reasonably good. Hugh Grant's recent renaissance continues with his turn as a the duplicitous but generally engaging Jonathan. I would, perhaps, like to see Nicole Kidman show a bit more range again, as this is another rich, wife, victim role straight after "Big Little Lies". Edgar Ramirez is a little wasted in a generic detective role. Donald Sutherland, perhaps like Nicole, could do with playing something other than rich, emotionally distant roles for a while. Nobody noticeable lets the side down though.

I was with the plot until then end. This is hard to talk about without spoilers and the show is really one big reveal of who killed Elena. . . But I'll say this, I don't think that the reveals on the final day of the court case would have been as damning as they are made out to be. Nor did I find the events of the last few scenes to be as interesting or satisfactory a conclusion as I hoped.

It's all fine, don't get me wrong, a good enough story elevated by some star power - it just didn't merit the hype it had at the time.

This is a message to the actresses, mostly studios, agents and whoever else who put the pressure on women to look perfect. On high definition TVs the evidence of injection fillers in the face, botox and mini-facelifts are distracting from the story and making it difficult for the viewer to believe in the character, the whole time is spent analyzing what's strange about the actress's face. Apart from that I recommend the series. Intriguing.

I really loved first five episodes. Grant, Jupe and Sutherland gave us great performances, Kidman did well. Some characters were useless or barely used, such a shame. Last episode seemed like classic Hollywood story. Ending had to be better. You should watch it. In the end it is a pretty good psychological thriller.

It started out with a very strong screenplay. It had intelligent dialogue. The acting performances were all very good. Unfortunately, Fernando Alves character wasn't developed. The show remain strong until ep5. Ep5 and ep6 direction did not impressed me as well as the first four episodes.

I am not sure what the point was with Sylvia Steineitz or Miguel Alves. I'm not putting down the show, but I felt the climax could have been taken in a different direction. It is certainly better than many of the other TV shows running on streaming platforms.

So much garbage out there, but The Undoing in quality. Well made , well acted and a gripping story line. We need more quality shows like this HBO.

Well for all those reviews labelling this show 'boring', I disagree. This series is for those who like to use their little grey cells to solve the mystery themselves. It is not 'spoonfed' to the audience. My husband and I rewatched the first three episodes last night to see if we missed clues. As for the reviews not reviewing the show but commenting nastily on Nicole's face: I, personally, see no signs of work done (she has admitted to having tried Botox, but (like me) decided it was not for her. She is a very intelligent actress playing a specific character. It's almost like the naysaying reviewers have forgotten that acting is pretend... It is a very talented cast. The young lad playing Nicole and Hugh's son is on track to a long illustrious career in acting (I hope).

"Much Ado About Nothing" Great cast, compelling storyline, poor final episode.

The Undoing has shown at last that Hugh Grant is not a one trick pony . He shed his English foppish acting style and turned in a really good performance .Helped by a strong cast ,it made compelling viewing. I hope Hugh continues down this path . The Undoing is well worth binge watching . Enjoy Bruce

It's usually because of the writing.

In this case, it's the performances that drag this down, for me.

The Good:

Six episodes aren't a huge investment. There are great performances from secondary characters. Donald Sutherland!!! Hugh Grant is very good, in this

The Bad:

Nicole Kidman. From the theme song, to her strange acting choices (body language, vocal cadence, etc), I wish someone else was cast in the role.

The Son. I'll blame the director here, because this young actor seems to perform in ways that were woefully unconvincing.

The Detectives. Again, from the start, the choices made for the actual performances are strange, and often nonsensical.

The Finale. It's a letdown, for sure, Not much more to be said.

But perhaps the worst part of this limited series, is that for 5.5 episodes, it kept me mildly interested in seeing the story reach its conclusion. And when it finally did, I legitimately felt an annoyance that I had wasted my time.

Another commenter used the Law and Order analogy, and that's pretty accurate. Outside of the brief nudity and language (and obviously the A-List cast), it really comes off like your average L and O episode-only with that show, it's just a 60 minute time investment.

Perhaps this might have made a better 2 hour movie.

Best show I've watched in quite some time. If you enjoyed Big Little Lies, you'll likely enjoy this too. The Undoing definitely keeps you guessing. Although many of us have been spoiled by full-season releases on streaming services, waiting a week for the next episode helped build suspense and allowed time to discuss theories with friends during covid lol. It's comical that many of these "bad" reviews seem to focus primarily on changes to Nicole Kidman's face (??) or claim to have disliked it but go on to spend even more of their precious time writing an essay-length review. I think some of these are either fake or written by people who should just relax and enjoy it for what it is - a purely fictional tv show for entertainment purposes. Perhaps those who need everything to be "realistic" should stick to factual biographies &/or dry documentaries.

What a great show with some fantastic twists already and superstar acting. However following Nicole Kidmans most recent unnecessary self imposed changes to her face it makes it difficult to know is she acting , is she sad , happy , frightened .... otherwise very good show

This is a "Oh my God, don't say I have to wait a week until the next episode" kind of show. Great thriller. Great acting by Kidman, Grant and Sutherland. Well worth setting aside an evening just to watch.

I'm on the 5th episode now. I had been wanting to review at the end but had to write my thoughts.

This is such good television. Every one is on the edge from Kidman, to Grant, and Sutherland and the preternaturally gifted Noah Jupe. I've never seen a better performance from Hugh Grant.

The story winds around the secrets that unravel slowly, deliberately. The tension is real and unflinchingly. But the writing is the true star here. Kelley certainly knows how to put a series together, but this feels like new ground for him. He does a great job of keeping everyone guessing.

I don't know who did it. I have my suspicions. It sure is fun watching them play out!