If you are looking for a suspenseful drama that is not too long but yet having a story that is absolutely captivating with thrilling performances by Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant, I do recommend the miniseries “The Undoing”.
TITLE: The Undoing
TV SERIES AIR DATE: 2020
DURATION: 6 Episodes (332 Minutes)
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital Francais, Subtitles: English SDH and Francais
COMPANY: Warner Bros./HBO
RATED: Not Rated
RELEASE DATE: March 23, 2021
Based on the novel “You Should Have Kown” by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Created by David E. Kelley
Directed by Susanne Bier
Written by David E. Kelley
Executive Producer: Celia D. Costas, Stephen Garrett, David E. Kelley, Nicole Kidman, Bruna Papandrea, Per Saari
Produced by Deb Dyer
Co-Producer: Richard Styles, Matthew Tinker
Consulting Producer: Molly Allen, Jonathan Shapiro
Music by Evgueni Galperine, Sacha Galperine
Cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle
Edited by Ben Lester
Casting by Ellen Chenoweth, Jina Jay
Production Design by Lester cohen
Art Direction by Doug Huszti
Set Decoration by Keri Lederman
Costume Design by Signe Sejlund
Starring:
Nicole Kidman as Grace Fraser
Hugh Grant as Jonathan Fraser
Edgar Ramirez as Detective Joe Mendoza
Noah Jupe as Henry Fraser
Lily Rabe as Sylvia Steineitz
Matilda de Angelis as Elena Alves
Edan Alexander as Miguel Alves
Michael Devine as Detective Paul O’Rourke
Donald Sutherland as Franklin Reinhardt
Ismael Cruz Cordova as Fernando Alves
In this HBO limited series based on the book You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz, a successful therapist, wife and mother tries to survive in the wake of a spreading and very public disaster.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray, which I am reviewing in this blog post.
The opinions I share are my own.
From the creator of “The Practice”, “L.A. Law”, “Ally McBeal” and “Big Little Lies” comes the TV mini-series “The Undoing”, which stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant.
The HBO American mystery psychological thriller is based on the 2014 novel “You Should Have Known” by Jean Hanff Korelitz and was written and produced by David E. Kelley and directed by Susanne Bier (“In a Better World”, “After the Wedding”, “Bird Box”).
The mini-series was the most-watched show on HBO in 2020 and now, the series will be available on Blu-ray and DVD.
The series resolves around what seems like a good family. The Fraser’s which include psychiatrist Grace Fraser (portrayed by Nicole Kidman), children’s cancer physician Jonathan Fraser (portrayed by Hugh Grant) and their son, Henry (portrayed by Noah Jupe).
That evening Grace has a auction fundraising for less fortunate students to attend their son’s private school, Reardon. As Grace goes to join the other mothers to discuss the fundraising, they are joined by a new mother, Elena Alves (portrayed by Matilda De Angelis).
Elena behaves in anxiety and begins breastfeeding her child in front of everyone, which shocks the other mothers.
Then while at the gym, surprisingly Elena Alves shows up and talks to Grace in women’s locker room fully naked.
Then at the night of the fundraiser, she sees Elena again, who seems nervous and agitated. As Grace goes to talk to her she is seen crying. Wanting to help her out, she goes to talk to Elena inside the elevator and Elena thanks Grace for her kindness and kisses her on the lips.
The following morning, life changes for Grace as Elena is found murdered, while her husband is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, the police are wanting to know if Grace knew the victim well? But also where the whereabouts of her husband?
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“The Undoing” is presented in 1080p High Definition. The picture quality for this series is very good. With its high production value and many outdoor scenes, overall picture quality shows very good detail, especially with closeups.
I didn’t notice any major banding issues or artifacts.
The series is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby Digital Francais. The series is crystal clear when it comes to dialogue and action sequences.
Subtitles are in English SDH and Francais.
SPECIAL FEATURES
“The Undoing” comes with the following special features:
- Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant Introduce the Undoing
- Creating the Undoing
- Eleven the Undoing Revelations Featurettes
EXTRAS:
“The Undoing” comes with a Digital Code.
“The Undoing” is a fascinating mystery psychological thriller. Watching the series, I was immediately captivated by its storyline and the performances of both Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant.
The series is about a upper middle-class family, the Frasers which include children’s cancer doctor Jonathan Fraser (portrayed by Hugh Grant), Nicole Kidman as the loving wife and psychiatrist Grace Fraser and their child Henry Fraser (portrayed by Noah Jupe).
You would think this family has it all, everything but the family dog which Henry wants but his father won’t allow due to being allergic to them.
Both parents love their child and pay heavily to have him attend his school, Reardon, who is having a fundraiser for children less fortunate to attend the school.
But things start going out of control for the Grace, when she meets Elena Alves, a mother who joins the fundraising committee and somehow is drawn to Grace. Is Elena smitten with Grace?
While things seem off when she starts breastfeeding her child in front of the other mothers, one can let that sly. But the second meeting between Grace and Elena gets even creepier when Elena shows up at Grace’s gym and approaches her with no clothes on (in the locker room).
And then on the evening of the fundraiser, Elena arrives, stares at Grace, then when Grace sees her again, she’s in tears. Elena leaves the fundraiser, telling her how Grace is always so nice to her and she kisses Grace in the lips.
Meanwhile, as Elena leaves, Jonathan is called to go to the hospital for a patient and leaves. Later that night, Jonathan tells her that he has to leave to a conference in Ohio.
It seems routine for Frasers, despite the last few days been a bit crazy for Grace.
But then the following morning, Elena is found gruesomely murdered. Meanwhile, Jonathan is missing and left his phone at home.
But the police then start questioning her about her husband and whether or not she knew Elena and from there on, things go downhill for Grace, as she starts to learn about details of her husband.
I will leave it at that, as I don’t want to spoil the series but I was captivated by Nicole Kidman’s performance as Grace. As a therapist, she’s good at reading people, but now she finds herself in unique territory. A woman murdered, her husband having disappeared, her son wondering where his father is and Grace being questioned repeatedly by police. She delivers a performance that manages to bring a lot of emotion and she absolutely nailed it.
As for actor Hugh Grant, it’s no doubt a performance which I have never seen him play before but he did a very good job at it. I also give credit to Donald Sutherland for the performance of Franklin Reinhart, Grace’s father. With Grace having to maintain sanity, Franklin tries to be a strong father figure for his daughter in her time of need.
But I do like the overall storyline progression and the fact that the storyline is contained in six episodes and I’m glad there was no need to build a storyline with extra episodes that could have hampered the storyline. The story focused on husband and wife but the characters such as their son Henry, Grace’s father Franklin, her friend Sylvia Steineitz (portrayed by Lily Rabe), the attorney Haley Fitzgerald (portrayed by Noma Dumezweni), each talent contributed wonderfully to this gripping and addictive storyline.
If you are looking for a suspenseful drama that is not too long but yet having a story that is absolutely captivating with thrilling performances by Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant, I do recommend the miniseries “The Undoing”.