As we roll deeper into October, headed towards Halloween and those darker evenings, the desire for ghostly dramas seems to increase. The chances of those actually being good new movies, however, seems up for question.
Netflix's latest new movie, The Woman in Cabin 10, released not coincidentally on the 10th of October, stars Keira Knightley as the lead. That critics have called its premise "silly" in reviews, however, hasn't stopped the flick's success.
In the UK, The Woman in Cabin 10 has sailed straight into the Netflix no.1 spot, topping the charts that have otherwise been slow-moving of late. It was K-Pop Demon Hunters' long-standing reign that skewed the year's stats.
As the trailer above shows, The Woman in Cabin 10 is set upon a luxury yacht, where a three-day charity trip is attended by a journalist (Knightley) to document the event.
However, when she witnesses a passenger's demise, of being thrown overboard late at night, things take a twist when her accounts don't add up to the passenger list – as everyone is allegedly accounted for.
Determined, however, she continues to plug away, pulling at the strings, looking for answers to an event she's convinced was real – and is being covered up by the rich and powerful hosts.
It sounds like typical 'whodunnit' affair, then, except on a ship in open waters. It's no Knives Out adventure, though, with critics really not finding the joy in The Woman in Cabin 10.
Critics' reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, for example, sit at 25%. Audience figures aren't much better, at 33% at the time of writing. Some go against the grain, however, with some rare 5-star ratings "not understanding the bad reviews".
Still, the consensus is that the premise is "silly", echoed in a number of critics' reviews. Knightley can't save a "plodding" tale, others suggest, with Netflix's latest a sign of streaming culture's rare ability to capture the genie in making classic new movies.
At least Netflix is pursuing being the best streaming service, though, with new content coming regularly – and across multiple genres, both movies and series, to keep the mix interesting. The Woman in Cabin 10 could be worth a watch if that trailer (above) has captured your interest though...
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