Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys, The Beast in Me
Netflix
Put Matthew Rhys and Claire Danes in the same room and let them cook.
That’s not the logline for The Beast in Me, the new Netflix psychological thriller that stars the two Emmy Award-winning actors, but it is an accurate description of what this limited series frequently and wisely does: places these two powerhouses in a scene and cranks up the gas on the burner.
It would be compelling to watch these peak prestige TV all-stars together even in a mediocre show. It’s a deeply appreciated bonus that The Beast in Me happens to be excellent: genuinely suspenseful, surprising enough to overcome any murder show tropes that occasionally creep into the narrative, and, obviously, well acted, not only by Rhys and Danes. Brittany Snow, coming off her buzzy turn in an admittedly hornier Netflix series, The Hunting Wives, gives an increasingly layered performance as the wife of Rhys’ character, wealthy real estate developer and possible killer Nile Jarvis. The same can be said of Natalie Morales‘ turn as the conflicted Shelley, the ex-wife of Danes’ Aggie Wiggs. Even the smaller roles are populated by a murderer’s (sorry) row of gifted pros, including Deirdre O’Connell, Bill Irwin, Kate Burton, and Becky Ann Baker.Â
That said, it’s the relationship between Danes and Rhys that is the beating, arrhythmic heart of The Beast in Me. Danes plays Aggie as someone striving, and failing, every day to stuff her emotions into a vacuum storage bag that she can shove into a closet and never examine again. A Pulitzer Prize-winning author stuck in a writing rut while attempting to deliver a manuscript about the relationship between Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia — Nile tells her that her book idea is boring because “no one wants hope, you know that” — Aggie is also still struggling to recover from the death of her young son after a drunk driving accident. She is a woman on the verge when Nile Jarvis, a member of an extremely wealthy family and a real estate developer accused, but never convicted, of killing his first wife, moves into the house next to her not-quite-as-palatial abode in Oyster Bay, New York, and suggests she should write her next book about him instead. From the first episode — there are eight total, all dropping Thursday — it seems very possible that Nile might push her from the verge to fully over the edge, metaphorically, literally, or possibly both.
9.2 The Beast in Me Like The unmatched Matthew Rhys and Claire Danes A compellingly complex and suspenseful narrative Dislike Occasionally can be a little obvious in its attempt to explain its major themes Some people might also think that Claire Danes cries too much while her chin quivers — but those people are misguided and we should show them some grace
Rhys has a special handle on men who keep secrets — see his work as Philip Jennings on The Americans for further information — and that serves him well here. His entire performance is undergirded by anger but tempered by Rhys’ ability to charm with his wry, dry wit. The words that Nile speaks are often at odds with the stony look in his eyes, and that makes Aggie, and the audience, constantly reevaluate our opinions about how much darkness actually lurks within him. Could Nile actually have killed his first wife, Madison, whose death was officially ruled a suicide even though her body was never recovered? Nah. But hold on a second … did he?
That is the central question in The Beast in Me, and one that Aggie attempts to answer by agreeing to write about Nile, with whom she slowly forms a tentative but semi-warm friendship. It’s tempting to describe the dynamic between them as cat-and-mouse. Really, it’s more like cat-and-cat: sometimes they sit across from each other and stare, curiously and judgmentally, at each other. Other times, their claws fully come out.
ALSO READ: The complete guide to fall TV
Creator Gabe Rotter, a novelist who also worked on the eleventh season of The X-Files, and his fellow writers strategically trickle out new details that complicate our understanding of the the Nile/Aggie narrative and, perhaps more importantly to the people at Netflix, practically guarantee that viewers will keep advancing to the next episode. In addition to the matter of Madison’s murder, there is drama between Aggie and the drunk driver who killed her son, who still lives in Oyster Bay and whose role in his death was ruled accidental; within the FBI, where alcoholic agent Brian Abbott (David Lyons) continues to pursue the truth about Nile; and within Nile’s family business, which is still technically run by his father, Martin, played by Jonathan Banks. While Banks is, as always, an effectively intimidating figure, he seems slightly miscast here. It’s hard to believe that the thuggish Martin and the equally aggressive but more sophisticated Nile share the same blood.
At times, The Beast in Me can be a little too on the nose for its own good. Nile’s professional baby is a major Manhattan real estate project called Jarvis Yards, a clear riff on Hudson Yards. A progressive, Latina councilwoman named Olivia Benitez (Aleyse Shannon) who opposes the development is an obvious stand-in for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But the vibe of this show is so consistently, unrelentingly tense that such minor flaws can easily be overlooked. For the record, there are also some welcome and very satisfying breaks from that tension, including a scene in which a drunken Rhys dances to a particularly well-chosen Talking Heads song. Trust me, you will not realize how much you needed to see Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys get schnockered together until you start watching them get schnockered together.
The Beast in Me openly and repeatedly announces its central theme, which is that every human being carries evil, unspeakable impulses that can be unlocked and unleashed under stressful circumstances. Certainly that’s what Nile believes and what he tries to get Aggie to confront about herself. But this drama is also about wealth and power, and how the American systems designed to keep both in check are warped. The excessively rich corporate businessman has been the villain of 2025, in the real world and in numerous television shows and films, including Alien: Earth, One Battle After Another, and The Running Man, among others. Rhys’ Nile Jarvis is another to add to that list. Fortunately, he’s way, way more interesting than Elon.
Premieres: Thursday, Nov. 13 on Netflix
Who’s in it:Â Claire Danes, Matthew Rhys, Brittany Snow, Natalie Morales
Who’s behind it: Gabe Rotter (creator), Howard Gordon (showrunner)
For fans of:Â Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys
Episodes watched:Â 8 of 8