You’ll have to suspend disbelief early on in Simon Stone’s “The Woman in Cabin 10,” a chilly, silly adaptation of Ruth Ware’s bestselling thriller novel of the same name.
Consider this: Keira Knightley stars as hard-hitting journalist Laura “Lo” Blacklock, back in London after a particularly rough assignment (some lady died), and eager to hide out in the high-energy offices of The Guardian. Upon returning to her workplace, a clearly zonked Lo receives an email inviting her (again, a hard-hitting journalist who writes the kind of stories that might get a person killed) to accompany a trip on a wealthy couple’s super-yacht for… fun? Pleasure? A break? And yet, Lo’s quick pitch to her steely boss (a terribly underused Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is accepted, and The Guardian’s ace investigative reporter is promptly shipped off to the world’s most luxurious private vessel, all expenses seemingly paid by the same rich people who invited her along to report on whatever. The Guardian should sue for slander.
Absolutely baffling as that all is, it at least sets up expectations: Knightley sells all this faff, but she might be the only one down for that assignment. Eagle-eyed Ware fans will also notice that this opening hinges on a change to the novel, as co-screenwriters Stone, Joe Shrapnel, and Anna Waterhouse have made pains to turn their Lo into a tough-skinned reporter, versus Ware’s original version, in which she was a travel writer. (And, yes, that a travel writer would embark on a luxury cruise sure made more sense in Ware’s telling.)
It’s just one of many changes the trio have brought to Ware’s story; some of them are even good. Nearly all of them will take a while more to unfold. It’s too bad then that Stone doesn’t use some of that tension-stretching time to delight in other aspects of Ware’s story (and the whodunnit genre in general). When Lo boards the yacht, she’s soon met by a murderer’s row of, well, maybe actual murderers! But Stone’s film doesn’t spend nearly enough time with these fellow travelers (even if they do include a snooty Hannah Waddingham, a ditzy Kaya Scodelario, and an outrageous Daniel Ings), all of whom clearly have interesting backstories and personalities, and might as well have been heaved over the side of the boat before it even leaves the port.
You’re laughing because you know that someone will indeed be heaved over the side of the boat, aren’t you? Before we get there, however, it’s time to meet Lo’s benefactors, hosts, and would-be subjects. Annie Lyngstad (Lisa Loven Kongsli) made her money doing, well, it doesn’t really matter that much, but it wasn’t entirely altruistic (no one becomes a billionaire by being a good person). Now, however, the stately Norwegian shipping heiress is dying of cancer, and it’s changed her perspective a bit. She wants to go out on a high note, by starting a non-profit organization to help the less fortunate (again, the details aren’t entirely flushed out).
That her husband Richard Bullmer (Guy Pearce, having a hell of a time) wants to celebrate this by throwing a massive gala in Norway and high-tailing it up there in his big “fuck-you yacht” with a gaggle of his rich, drunk, annoying pals… well, that might indicate he and Annie are not exactly on the same page. And when Annie invites Lo into her private office on their very first night on the yacht to tell her that the foundation will be receiving all of her money (none for Richard!), it’s pretty obvious he already knows that.
Or does he? Things are odd enough on the yacht before the big, inciting maybe-murder. No one wants to talk to Lo. She’s dressed inappropriately for everything. Even her “checkered romantic history” gets in there, as her ex Ben (David Ajala) is also in attendance for no discernible reason, beyond adding some drama to fast flat-lining story. One plus: the yacht itself is spectacular (and obviously real), the chilly ocean they are sailing on is divine (and also obviously real), and the whole thing feels claustrophobic and wrong from the jump.
When Lo accidentally barges into cabin 10 and interrupts its jittery occupant, it’s just another slightly odd occurrence in her increasingly weird journey. And when Lo sees a body go overboard from that same cabin mere hours later, you’ll forgive her for thinking that anyone else on the vessel will give a hoot. They don’t, not because they are rich or drugged out or wacky, but because — pause for effect — no one was staying in cabin 10, Miss Blacklock! Dun dun!
As questionable as her ethics might be around accepting swanky trips “for work,” Lo is still a journalist, and she’s not going to take this obvious gaslighting lying down. Of course, she will be stymied at every possible point by nearly everyone else on the yacht, from Bullmer all the way down to the galley rats who look at Lo like she’s nuts any time she opens her mouth. Staying with Lo’s perspective keeps us inside Knightley’s orbit (can we possibly get her another whodunnit to star in? she’s great in this milieu, even if the film isn’t up to snuff), but it robs some necessary tension. We know Lo is right, we just need to see her prove it.
What Lo eventually discovers might grate on some Ware fans — the general shape of the reveals remain, even if they’ve been twisted to pin the blame squarely on a single baddie — but other changes add some much-needed drama. No spoilers, not really, but Stone’s “The Woman in Cabin 10” even dares to take the whole messy crew off the yacht, all the better to show off the full scope of Annie’s wealth and world, hammering home just how insane this story actually is. It might seem a bit showy and cheesy in its final moments, but that kind of over-the-top shock is missing from most of the rest of the film. It’s a thriller missing the thrills, and we’ll take them where we can get them.
Grade: C+
“The Woman in Cabin 10” starts streaming on Netflix on Friday, October 10.
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