Inside Man (2022)

Title: Inside Man

Year: 2022

Genre:  Crime | Drama | Mystery |

Seasons: 1 |

Runtime:  240 min

Director: Steve Moffat

Starring: David Tennant, Steve Tucci, Kate Dickie

6.6/10

 As much as the directors and writers like Paul McGuigan and Steven Moffat, respectively. It’s a weird tale, that escalates quickly from being an assault on the subway to keeping a woman trapped in the basement of a vicar and his wife in England. As much as David Tennant is a fine actor in this role as a representative of God. He tries to do good and always says it’s because he’s the damn vicar. Mary, played by Lyndsey Marshal, progressively becomes erratic and compulsive when it comes to handling Janice, the manipulating prisoner in the basement. The timeframe is confusing during all four episodes, the time zone difference jacks up the whole storytelling. The end of the day is hard to spot on. Everything shifts in tone. It’s hard to tell the melodrama from the uncomfortable humor or even vice versa.

Then, the death row, we get Stanley Tucci imitating a detective, solving different cases that are only clear to him. There’re jokes back and forth. There seem to be a lot of corruption focusing only on Grieff and Dillon, collaborating with the prisoners. In the series, there’s also a sign that every character is criminal or misbehavior just for the like. There’s a plot hole and the writing really drags the story out. Then there’s also a lot of talking, and speculations on how to kill or why to kill a person. There seems to be a lot of effort to plan and talk, which in storytelling, is just a diversion from the real plot. There’s a lot of melancholy, solemn, dramatic, sad music but it never really gets an attachment to the scenes or whatever you might call it. The emotional soundtrack never elevates the scenes in a proper way.

The problem, the main issue, with the series is that shifts constantly between happy and sad. The change between constant drama is something between a headache and a migraine. Lydia West as Beth Davenport is a migraine. Kate Dickie does fine work in a recurring role. In the end, the whole series is confusing and complicates an understanding of how the two storylines integrate with each other. It goes to great lengths to sympathize with the killers that have a big role to play in the series.