Agatha Christie’s brand of twisty, confined whodunit mysteries has not waned in popularity since the peak of her career, as her work continues to inspire both direct adaptations and creative imitators. “The Woman in Cabin 10” is based on a novel by Ruth Ware, a prominent British novelist and established acolyte of Christie’s prose. The adaptation of “The Woman in Cabin 10” was most certainly greenlit in the wake of several recent successes that shared Christie’s DNA. In addition to Kenneth Branagh’s series of Hercule Poirot mysteries, Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” series plays with the formula of Christie’s style with a deft touch of self-awareness.
“The Woman in Cabin 10” doesn’t have any aspirations to deviate from formula. It even shares a premise that is similar to Branagh’s recent adaptation of “The Death of the Nile.” Even if there are a few clues that are uncovered through the use of advanced technology, the narrative of “The Woman in Cabin 10” is straightforward enough that it could have easily been made in the 1930s when Christie’s novels were at their peak. “The Woman in Cabin 10” may not offer anything new for those who are well-steeped in the genre, and its logic is flimsy at best. That being said, the tight running time, strong performances, and confined setting of “The Woman in Cabin 10” make it a fairly engaging viewing experience, albeit an unmemorable one.
Keira Knightley stars as Laura Blacklock, a highly respected journalist who has suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after a source for one of her stories was killed. Laura’s latest assignment is to cover the opening of a luxury cruise ship that is spearheaded by the charismatic aristocrat Richard Bullmer (Guy Pearce) and his terminally ill wife Anne Bullmer (Lisa Loven Kongsli), who plan to use their proceeds for the sake of medical research.
Laura is out of place amongst the pompous crowd of wealthy benefactors, but she grows more suspicious of her company when she witnesses a woman who is thrown to her death at night. Although Laura isn’t able to determine the identity of her mysterious victim, she finds that none of her fellow guests saw the crime being committed. When her evidence begins to disappear, Laura starts to suspect that she’s being gaslit so that the crime can be covered up.
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Christie’s stories are often centered on brilliant detectives, but “The Woman in Cabin 10” makes the smart decision to use a reporter as a protagonist. Laura knows how to dig into evidence and make notes of suspicious activity, but she’s rarely had her life in danger. In fact, her brief experience with a life-or-death scenario has left her with lasting trauma. Finding a way to make the hero both highly intelligent and out of their depth is not easy, but Laura’s an effective window into the story thanks to Knightley’s strong performance. She’s believable as a seasoned professional, but it’s also implied that Laura is inherently skeptical about wealthy entrepreneurs who celebrate their own wealth on the basis that it’s for a supposedly charitable cause.
“The Woman in Cabin 10” also knows that such a tight mystery works best if the characters are stuck in a confined location in which no outside help can be provided, and the cruise ship is within open waters where it’s not subjected to moderation by an outside justice force. The film goes to great lengths to show that Laura is isolated (as even her call to the Coast Guard is denied), and that everyone on board could feasibly be part of the conspiracy.
While there’s not exactly a lot of red herrings in “The Woman in Cabin 10,” the identity of the killer is initially unclear because of the general animosity that both the crew and guests feel towards a probing reporter like Laura. She’s clearly an external force that has come to analyze their sanctuary, and they gradually lose patience with her when she appears to be aggravated.
Although the brisk 95 minutes don’t leave a lot of room for fat, “The Woman in Cabin 10” doesn’t find much time to develop its cast of characters. Much of the fun in any whodunit is the trading of stories between different suspects, but the various guests in “The Woman in Cabin 10” are fairly interchangeable and seem to only be defined by broad characteristics. David Ajala is given the most due as Ben, a photographer who used to be romantically involved with Laura. While the film doesn’t have much time to explore why their relationship turned sour, the strong chemistry between Ajala and Knightley adds an appropriate bit of tension.
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The most entertaining of the supporting performances is Daniel Ings as the eccentric musician Adam, who feels like the type of unusual figure that would be invited to a closed-off event. The rest of the cast doesn’t have the same aptitude for absurdity, but based on the film’s surprisingly potent satire of wealth, Ings’ performance doesn’t feel out of place. It feels strange that talented performers like Hannah Waddingham and Art Malik are left to only sneer and snark without any suggestion of dimensionality, but Pearce is at least given the opportunity to chew the scenery. He may be one of the finest actors of his generation, but those familiar with his villainous roles in “The Count of Monte Cristo” or “Iron Man 3” know that he isn’t afraid to get hammy.
Even if there’s little mystery as to what happened or who the culprits might be, “The Woman in Cabin 10” finds Hitchcockian suspense in the notion of being the sole witness to a crime that can’t be proven. Thankfully, the film never tries to suggest that Laura’s perspective isn’t to be trusted, as Knightley is able to let the audience feel the same frustration and confusion that the character does. Still, “The Woman in Cabin 10” fails to hold this suspense by the time that it wraps up in a fairly routine fashion.
Netflix is now responsible for producing literally hundreds of new films every year, and some this year, like “Nouvelle Vague” and “Jay Kelly” will screen in select theaters in order to contend for awards. Although this has blurred the line between what is “cinematic” and what is intended for the small screen, “The Woman in Cabin 10” is the type of modest, straightforward work of passive entertainment that would have been considered a “television film” had it been released outside the streaming era. There’s nothing wrong with this approach, as similar whodunit stories have inspired fun and engaging television films. With reasonable expectations in mind, mystery fans aren’t likely to regret following through with “The Woman in Cabin 10” to solve the mystery.
