The Sinner – A delicious mind teaser

Ok, so I just finished watching the first and second episodes of The Sinner – I know it’s a little late but I didn’t even know about it until 2 hours ago! - And I couldn’t wait to write about my insights!

It was one of the best first episodes I’ve ever seen. Brilliant from beginning to end, it interconnects three key aspects: mental illness, human behavior, and society.

Cora Tannetti (Jessica Biel), a mother with depression and OCD (and other things that I’m not going to spoil if you didn’t see it yet), has a breakdown during a day on the beach with her family and kills a random man. She pleads guilty but the detective Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman) notices that something is wrong with the case because the murderer has no motive and decides to start an investigation on her sanity. There’s a lot of secrets about the characters that are revealed just in the right moment for your entertainment. And it’s fun to dive into the story and try to capture the details of the beautiful performance of Jessica Biel. What are her traumas? What she’s been through?

What I think is the most beautiful part is the inspiration for the murder scene: Albert Camus’ book The Stranger, which was groundbreaking at its time (1942) because it shows a murder happening in the middle of the day, on a beach, and without a motive. It was groundbreaking because until then, every murder story had the same recipe: the killer always has an intention to kill or is the subject of strong sudden emotion, everything happens at night, in isolated places, and with no witnesses. Poetically and impeccably adapted by the show.

If you never read this book, I recommend you do it but only if you want to see the well-built web of events created by Derek Simonds. If you like TV shows, literature, and psychological thrillers, this is the show for you.

What are your insights?

Cheers!

#tv #tvshows #jessicabiel #billpullman #thesinner #thestranger #albertcamus #literature #psychology