Published by Mason Oldridge, 15 April 2024
CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Channel 5 presents this new thriller in which Jill Halfpenny plays a lodger with a sinister secret.
Claire Goose and Lee Ingleby star as married couple Jessica and Nick Haynes who move to a countryside fixer-upper, much to the disgruntlement of their teenage daughter Alice. To make ends meet, they take in a lodger Sian. However, the new resident exhibits strange behaviour, developing a close bond with Alice by claiming to understand her teen angst and causing conflict in Nick and Jessica’s already-rocky marriage.
Early on, we learn that Alice is Sian’s biological daughter, but surely this can’t be the only reveal in the series? Fortunately, a twist comes at the end as we learn that Sian gave birth to a baby called Alice sixteen years ago, yet the infant died the morning she was born. The grief drove Sian to insanity, and she began looking for adopted girls with the same name and birthday, believing the Haynes’ daughter to be her own and attempting to kidnap her. The series culminates in an action-packed finale in which Sian stabs Nick, before a clifftop showdown, which ends with Sian plummeting into the waters. There is also one final teaser twist at the end as a character resembling Sian turns up at a house, with another teen Alice answering the door, hinting that Sian survived.
Lee Ingleby deserves praise for his performance as the frustrated and manipulated Nick and Freya Hannan-Mills demonstrates a multitude of emotions, while Halfpenny excels as Sian, delicately balancing villainy and vulnerability. She showcases her psychotic side particularly well in the shocking scene in which she violently smashes her head into the mirror multiple times to frame Nick for abuse.
It may be relatively simple and straightforward, but for a Freeview production, the series is well-paced and rather gripping.
7/10