“Behind Her Eyes” wanted to look like a serious series and at the same time surprise viewers. It failed at both.

On February 17, a mini-series by Steve Lightfoot (screenwriter of “Hannibal”) titled “Behind Her Eyes” appeared on Netflix. This psychological thriller is based on the novel of the same name by Sarah Pinborough, which explores themes such as mental illness, drug addiction, abusive relationships, and even astral projection.

A Typical Love Triangle

The plot of “Behind Her Eyes” tells the complicated story of the relationship between psychiatrist David (Tom Bateman) and his wife Adele (Eve Hewson). Tensions in their marriage are introduced by David’s new secretary, Louise (Simona Brown), with whom the man instantly develops mutual feelings.

While watching the first half of the series, one indeed gets the impression that this is the most banal story about a love triangle, where a man unhappy in his marriage finds solace in a mistress. However, the plot repeatedly hints at the couple’s dark past, and with each episode, you worry more and more about Simona and her fate. This intrigue keeps interest in what’s happening on screen alive, despite numerous flaws.

A Desire to Surprise Instead of Attempts to Develop Characters

If it weren’t for those very mysteries about David and Adele’s past and the root cause of their strange relationship, the series could have been abandoned halfway through.

First, because the characters are not interesting at all. Each of them is a set of banal clichés (even the supposedly mysterious Adele), stereotypical phrases, and actions. Their behavior often makes you cringe and feel genuine secondhand embarrassment.

Secondly, it feels like even the actors weren’t interested in participating in all of this. Eve Hewson, who looked stunning in “The Knick,” is a pale shadow of herself and her potential here. Tom Bateman cosplays Lucifer from the Netflix series of the same name and Matt Murdock. Simona Brown seems to be playing a major role for the first time, unsure of how it’s actually done.

And the most unfortunate thing is that the creators of the series “Behind Her Eyes” were clearly most concerned with a spectacular ending. To achieve this, they prepared a series of insane twists and a completely absurd resolution to the story, which in its absurdity would outdo something like “Legion.” And all this instead of interestingly developing the characters, focusing on the psychology of their relationships, and seriously addressing all the themes briefly mentioned.

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