REVIEW: ‘Inside Man’ Delivers A Thrilling Tale Full Of Twists

Inside Man Season 1 is a thriller series on Netflix from creator Steven Moffat(Sherlock), and starring David Tennant and Stanley Tucci. When a series of unfortunate misunderstandings leads a Vicar(Tennant) to take his son’s math tutor, Janice, hostage in his basement his life begins a death spiral that seems to lead to only one conclusion. That is unless a death row inmate in America can deduce the situation and rescue Janice in time.

What separates murderers from everyone else? Are they truly wired differently than the rest of us, or is the difference merely a matter of circumstances? Would any of us, given a bad enough day and high enough stakes do the unthinkable? This is the core concept that lays at the center of Inside Man Season 1’s narrative. And I gotta say, it makes some interesting arguments.

While the series of events that trigger this terrible day are so far astronomically unlikely that can only be described as farcical, once Vicar Harry finds himself in his nightmare scenario of how this pillar of his community finds himself sliding down his moral slippery slope feels thoroughly convincing in it’s execution. Tennant’s portrayal of Harry manages to keep the viewer believing how desperately he doesn’t want the situation to get any worse, even though it inevitably seems to match in that direction.

While Tennant’s delivery of his part of this slow-spiraling tale is masterful, he is far from the only star. His prisoner Janice( played by Dolly Wells) does a superlative job playing the surprisingly quick-witted prisoner who is determined not to go quietly into that good night, no matter how assured her fate seems to be.

The other star that shines in this series is Tucci. Playing a brilliant criminologist who is on death row for the murder of his wife, Jefferson Grieff, Tucci delivers his character’s Sherlock level of deductive reasoning with a layer of contempt and low-key spite that makes him off-putting and fascinating at the same time. The complex killer who spends his days helping people till his execution delivers a unique curiosity of a character.

Beyond these trio of stars, the rest of Inside Man Season 1’s cast does a solid job of supporting the rest of the narrative. Every actor brings a performance to the tale that gives each of them their presence in the series, even while being outshined by the core trio of personalities.

Another aspect of Inside Man Season 1 that works fantastically is the cinematography. The brilliant slow pans that transition shots from one space to another do a huge amount of work in changing the tone and energy between scenes. It highlights how sometimes the simplest tricks within art can produce huge results in the finished product.

Inside Man Season 1 delivers a gripping tale that is well worth its short, four-hour runtime. While it takes a herculean effort to set up its nightmare scenario, once it’s there, the series pulls the viewer into its depths as it explores how far people will go when they are caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Inside Man Season 1 is streaming now on Netflix.