Suspicion Review: Kunal Nayyar's show is equipped enough to please mystery fans; Uma Thurman gravely misspent

Suspicion

Suspicion Cast: Uma Thurman, Kunal Nayyar, Noah Emmerich

Suspicion Creator: Rob Williams

Streaming Platform: Apple TV+

Suspicion Stars: 3/5

When you're banking (and marketed profusely!) on a top star like Uma Thurman to headline a series, you'd assume that we'd get to see her acting prowess in considerable portion. However, Suspicion does the opposite of that and what we get is a too scarce duration of the Oscar-nominated actress, where she's gravely misspent. Although, the remaining cast does a terrific job with strong performances. Does Suspicion, based on the Israeli series False Flag, deliver on the mystery lovers' radar? Let's find out!

Suspicion begins with a viral video, where Katherine Newman's (Uma Thurman) son Leo (Gerran Howell) is kidnapped by four masked (Nice touch with the royal family masks!) assailants. What makes Leo's kidnapping an even bigger talking point is because of who his mother is; Cooper-Newman's (an American PR agency) CEO, who has been nominated by the US President as Ambassador for the UK. FBI agent Scott Anderson (Noah Emmerich) begrudgingly has to team with NCA's Vanessa Okoye (Angel Coulby) to find the masked men or women before time runs out.

Conveniently, four unusual Brit suspects find themselves in a conundrum as they were simultaneously staying at the same hotel where Leo was kidnapped; Aadesh Chopra (Kunal Nayyar), a downtrodden hacker forced to stay with his in-laws, Natalie Thompson (Georgina Campbell), who has a knack for stealing money, Tara McAllister (Elizabeth Henstridge), a no filters lecturer estranged from her husband and daughter, Eddie Walker (Tom Rhys Harries), a free-spirited college boy and the most intriguing of them all, Sean Tilson (Elyes Gabel), a man with an actual criminal record. While the five suspects are the perfect caricatures to the kidnappers, there's obviously more than meets the eyes. Hence, the eight long episodes.

Speaking of Suspcion being eight episodes long, showrunner Rob Williams and director Chris Long take the creative levy to give us a slow burn unravelling of things, leaving it till the very end to find out whodunit. While the viral video immediately piques our interest, the journey to the destination is mismatched at times, even distracting us from the eventual conclusion. The overbaked script tries hard to please mystery lovers by being innovative and while they succeed in some aspects, it's a big letdown that Uma Thurman's character development is lacklustre at best, as she's criminally underutilised. Why this is disappointing is because the story revolves around her and what "the truth" is that the kidnappers are demanding off of her.

Nevertheless, Suspicion is saved from going completely off the rails because of some earnest performances and coming out on top as the most exciting character is Elyes, who adds just the right thrills and frills to the mystery behind him. Kunal, Georgina, Elizabeth and Tom bring out their character traits with flawless ease and the highlight sequences is the bickering interactions between the five of them, as is the individual interrogation sequences with Noah and Angel's Scott and Vanessa. They managed to build ample curiosity where you're guessing till the very end whether they're guilty or innocent. Emmerich and Coulby's US vs. UK banter is a pleasing distraction, even though we've watched this film before numerous times. Uma, too, shines brightly in the limited duration accustomed to her.

Without spoiling anything, the mystery behind the kidnapping takes a socio-political turn, as witnessed in many shows of such a genre in recent times. And it doesn't feel too forced in Suspicion and rather rushed. Just when your interest is piqued, we're seeing the end credits of the final episode. For some, like myself, I was ultimately able to solve the mystery a few episodes before and it makes you wonder if a film would have been the better route to go.

ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: Kunal Nayyar & Elizabeth Henstridge DECODE meaning behind the royal family masks used in Suspicion

Suspicion will leave many divided like this writer because while the series has its obvious narrative flaws, the commentary on real-life issues and especially, the influx of social media and its dual usage is panned out with hard grit. You're left horrified with just how much damage and influence social media, and to a demeaning effect - PR, can inflict and dominate over common folks. As does the "surveillance" of those in power! 

In conclusion, Suspicion has just the right tools to reel you in for a one time binge-watch, but will it be remembered by mystery lovers, say, two-three months from now? With certainty, it won't.