I generally shy aware from psychological thrillers, either movies or series. My daughter Julie told me recently that she had finished casting a new limited series production for Netflix. She had really liked working on it and thought maybe I would enjoy it despite the violence.
OK, if Julie is recommending it, maybe I should check it out. I did and found myself quickly hooked to The Beast in Me. Before I get into some specifics about its subject matter and why I liked it so much, here are some suggestions if you are wimpy like me and don’t like violence. I did not binge watch it. When there was violence, I just closed my eyes and waited until the scene had passed. I watched an episode early in the evening and then followed it with a fun movie or even a few scenes from a movie that I had previously enjoyed, to make me laugh and put me in a good mood to go to bed.
About The Beast in Me. The main character, played by Claire Danes, is a writer. She is currently stuck on her next book, which is about the friendship between Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia. That immediately got my interest as I am a fan of RBG and I’m in a writer’s group. We often share how hard it is to keep moving along on our projects and how easy it is to find ourselves blocked. Aggie, Claire’s character, recently lost an 8-year-old son to a drunk driver, and she is separated from her wife and living alone. The plot heightens when Niles Jarvis (played by Matthew Rhys), a multimillionaire real estate developer who is thought to have allegedly killed his wife, moves in next door. As the 8-part series progresses, Aggie will abandon her project on the friendship of the two justices and focus on writing about Jarvis. I don’t want to give away any of the plot. I encourage you to watch it unravel for yourself.
My husband Murray (who passed away five years ago) and I regularly shared the joy that raising our two daughters brought to us and how proud we were – and I am – of the lives that they have built for themselves with their families and strong dynamic careers.
As Mom, I can brag here that I am not at all surprised by the fine job Julie did with casting in The Beast in Me. She is well recognized in her field. You can check out her imdb page if you want to know about the shows she has cast and awards she has won. Each actor perfectly fit the part they played. The casting choice of Kate Burton and Bill Irwin as the parents of Niles’s missing wife delighted me. Kate Burton and Bill Irwin played roles in the development of Julie’s career when she was starting out. How wonderful that she was able to use their talent as guest artists in The Beast in Me.
Kudos for the writing, direction and use of music. The techniques used build the suspense.
The Golden Globe nominations were recently announced and The Beast in Me received three nominations: Best Limited Series; Matthew Rhys, for Best Actor in a Limited Series; and Claire Danes, Best Actress in a Limited Series. I’ll be watching in January, rooting for the series and actors to win.
