EXPATS is the story of a family dealing with a tragedy. Margaret (Nicole Kidman) lives in Hong Kong with her husband Clarke (David Tee), daughter Daisy (Tiana Gowen) and son Philip (Bodhi del Rosario). They lost their other son, Gus (Connor James), in a tragedy some time back and are still trying to cope with the loss. As part of their plan to move on, they decide to throw a party on Clarke's 50th birthday. Margaret invites her neighbour Hilary (Sarayu Blue), who reluctantly agrees, keeping aside their past differences. Meanwhile, Mercy (Ji-young Yoo), who has moved to Hong Kong from New York, is dabbling in catering gigs. She is asked to serve snacks to the guests at Clarke's bash. Mercy takes up the job, not realizing that it's a party organized by Margaret and Clarke. The moment Mercy realizes, she feels nauseated. On top of it, Margaret sees her and all hell breaks loose. What happens next forms the rest of the series.
EXPATS is adapted from the novel 'The Expatriates' by Janice Y K Lee. The story is intriguing and has a lot of mystery. Alice Bell and Lulu Wang's screenplay is pretty engaging but the writing is stretched at several places. The dialogues are conversational and straight out of life.
Lulu Wang’s direction is neat. There are several characters with a past and their paths have crossed each other at some point. The simple narrative is of big help in understanding how the people in the story are connected to each other. The biggest strength of the show, however, is its relatability, especially for the Indian audience. It talks about motherhood, women having to sacrifice careers, the pros and cons of having house help etc. All these factors appeal more to our audience than the one in the West and therefore, the show has an edge. The tragedy, meanwhile, is unveiled gradually and that also adds to the impact. In fact, the tragedy is quite different from the one that the audience expects and this also goes in favour of the show.
On the flipside, the first two episodes still leave a lot of basic questions unanswered like where Margaret and Clarke originally belonged to, etc. The first two episodes total 100 minutes and could have been shorter. Except for the tragedy sequence, nothing in the show leaves you feeling amazed or stunned and one can only hope that the subsequent episodes take care of this aspect.
Speaking of performances, Nicole Kidman hits the ball out of the park. She plays the complicated character with ease and the manner in which she depicts her various moods and shades are impressive. The scene where she breaks into an impromptu dance in an eatery is lovely. Sarayu Blue comes next and she puts up a superb performance. Ji-young Yoo, too, puts her best foot forward. David Tee and Jack Huston (David; Margaret's husband) leave a mark. Tiana Gowen and Bodhi del Rosario are decent. Connor James is cute. Ruby Ruiz (Essie) is fair and her track is quite interesting. Amelyn Pardenilla (Puri), Gabrielle Chan (Jing; Clarke's mother) and others are okay.
Alex Weston's music has a web show-feel and it works. Anna Franquesa-Solano's cinematography is terrific as she captures Hong Kong most spectacularly. Yong Ok Lee's production design. Malgosia Turzanska's costumes are appealing and rich, as per the demands of the script. Matthew Friedman and Alex O'Flinn's editing is uncomplicated but also unhurried.
On the whole, EXPATS (the first two episodes) is an intriguing mystery drama that works due to the plot, relatable moments and Nicole Kidman’s compelling performance.
Rating – 3 stars
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