Alberto Rey
Updated Friday, February 9, 2024-21:33
Dear Nicole Kidman: I don't buy. I admire your risk, your commitment, your daring and your wigs, but
Expats
(Prime Video) do not. I started watching her with the hope of knowing that she was a brave actress and, in her choices, rebellious.
I came out more bored than an oyster.
Let it be clear that I applaud your recent professional decisions, which are almost all of the ones you have made after freeing yourself from Tom Cruise. The list of kamikaze filmmakers and screenwriters you've collaborated with is incredible. Before Emma Stone lassoed Lanthimos you did
The Sacrifice of a Sacred Deer
with him . And when
Dogville
was just a crazy idea (and Lars Von Trier was dangerous), you said
go ahead
and created
a masterpiece
. Jonathan Glazer now proudly walks his masterful
The Zone of Interest
. I hope he remembers that you helped him get promoted by starring in the crazy
Birth
. You have made many films that
could have ruined your career and yet, from each one of them you have come out stronger
.
You've been worse at TV. That's where Australia's recent television comeback is still limping along. You have also played a Russian in
Nine Perfect Strangers
, a series that was harmed by comparisons with
The White Lotus
but, you know it and I know it, it was already bad before facing them.
Let's not talk
about
The Undoing
. From
Big Little Lies,
yes:
another highlight
in your career, another winning project. His second season was a slump. Of course, how can you not do it, especially if
Meryl Streep
wants to appear in it.
Now you have returned to TV in a series in which you are the only star. You and only you have managed to get
Lulu Wang
to take her series forward. Because without you, friend, Wang would have had a hard time selling the project. You know it and I know it.
Your collaboration with the director of
The Farewell
is a pike in Flanders for her and, forgive the insolence, a whim for you. Is it because what with Wong Kar-wai couldn't happen? What
Expatriates
is is the result of your promise to work more often with female directors. A promise kept.
You are capricious, but also noble.
In
Expats
you are not noble, just very posh. Don't be angry if I tell you that
your supernatural physique and your acting style, not given to show off
, are perfect for giving life to imposing, cold, repressed and pressured women. The pressure that Lulu Wang puts on you in
Expats
is great: you are a successful American woman turned alienated (and expatriated) housewife in Hong Kong. And on top of that, her little son disappears.
The story is very appealing, but it is told at a frankly irritating tempo
. It's beautiful, but repetitive. The actors are great, but their characters fail.
Maybe as a movie,
Expats
would have worked. As a series, it's
a missed opportunity
. Don't worry, Nicole, because your career won't even notice. It's time to look for another project, another wig and another script that without you would never have gotten anywhere. They do it with you. You can be proud of that. Not
from
Expats
.