Cush Jumbo and James Nesbitt dazzle in the thriller, Stay Close, the latest UK offering on Netflix.
As I sit here in my Dutch kitchen in the sky, I could not be prouder of my home country and the high-quality British drama produced for the whole world to see and enjoy. Stay Close, a gripping new Netflix thriller set in north-west England has not just taken the UK by storm, but it seems the world is gripped too! Sitting at number 3 in the Top 10 in the Netherlands Today category on Netflix, this crime thriller based on the Harlan Cobham novel of the same name, is a fabulously clever, fast-paced and oh so scary watch, especially for one who has been known to be scared during Finding Nemo! On moving to the Netherlands, a year and a half ago, one of my biggest fears was that I would miss out on quality British drama. Never fear, Netflix is here!
The casting is genius. Without having to say anymore, fans of The Good Wife and The Good Fight – US legal dramas, and more recently Hamlet at the Young Vic (where the English actress, Cush Jumbo continues to make her name); and fans of Cold Feet, Bloody Sunday, and The Missing (featuring the Northern Irish actor, James Nesbitt) will flock. Fans of these programmes are loyal, having followed the twists and turns of their character’s lives over a number of series, and in Cold Feet’s case, waiting 13 years for the next series. These fans will not be disappointed. This is binge-watching at its best. Even David Cameron in his time as the UK Prime Minister who famously chillaxed in the evenings in the flat above Number 10 with his wife Samantha, could not fail to be caught up in the action.
As I write, I have watched the first six episodes and am desperate to see the final two, but I am displaying restraint and prioritising my professional needs, and so the last two episodes must wait… The plot is so full of twists and turns, rich characters both past and present; and so many loose ends, so many unknowns, so many unresolved murders, that I seriously wonder if the remaining two 49 minutes episodes will be enough.
Stay Close, is the latest offering for Netflix from Red Productions, a Manchester based production company in the UK, following hot on the heels of The Stranger (Richard Armitage) and The Unforgivable (Sandra Bullock). In keeping with previous adaptions from the US based author, Harlan Coben, this #1 New York Times bestselling novel relocates the story from the US to Blackpool in the UK, and the locations do not disappoint – even if they confuse those native to the north-west by appearing to be rather closer together than in real life!
The series is billed as three people living comfortable lives, who each conceal dark secrets: Megan (Cush Jumbo), a working mother of three; Ray (Richard Armitage), a once promising documentary photographer, and Broome (James Nesbitt), a detective with long held suspicions over the murder of a local family-man seventeen years ago. Lorraine (Sarah Parish), an old friend from Megan’s past, delivers some shocking news which impacts all three characters. The past comes back to haunt, threatening to ruin the lives of all in its path.
A number of themes run deep within the narrative and deserve our attention:
How well do we actually know the people close to us?
Will our past always catch us up?
What is the nature of our relationships with our children?
What is truth, and should we always tell the truth?
What happens when events are taken out of our hands, and we lose control?
What value do we place on a human life?
As a viewer, we are continually challenged with life-changing dilemmas:
How would we react in a similar situation if the safety of our family was in jeopardy?
What is the morally correct thing to do?
The depth of talent here is immense, and credit must be given to Cobham who worked as script writer alongside his daughter (who was brought on board to help develop dialogue aimed at the younger generation) for giving the actors such an amazing script, a fact acknowledged by the cast themselves.
The star for me however is Cush Jumbo, a Lewisham-born girl with a Nigerian father and a mother from Scunthorpe, who is absolutely fantastic in this role, and is an actress I have admired now for many years.
In The Good Wife and subsequently The Good Fight, Cush played the fearless lawyer, Lucca Quinn, who it seems was as fearless off stage as on. I learnt recently that when confronted with the choice of spending no time at all with her newborn child, or spending 15-hours on set, plus going to the gym, plus 90 minutes in hair and make-up, Cush chose to forfeit those 90 minutes in hair by shaving her head and subsequently wearing a wig on set along with her fellow co-star and mum, Julianna Margulies, so she could spend just a little more time with her newborn son.
She showed similar devotion when refusing a body double in Stay Close, instead choosing to perform the quite challenging pole dancing routines herself. Training as a dancer while a student at the Brit School, Croydon, and working as a waitress in the famous Windmill Strip Club in Soho in her early twenties, seems to have served her well.
James Nesbitt and Eddie Izzard also deserve special mention for their roles here, as do the whole cast. This is British television and production at its best and it is a joy to watch. I cannot recommend this series enough. Please do enjoy this show, but for those of a more nervous disposition, do keep a cushion nearby and be prepared to hide your eyes. This drama has the power to surprise, confound and confuse even the best of us. I will leave you to watch the final two episodes and hope they do not disappoint.
Stay Close is available on Netflix in the Netherlands from January 31st, 2021
Photos courtesy of Red Production, UK
Follow Clare Varney on Facebook or Instagram to read more about Music, Food and Culture
