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This review was made possible by advance screeners of Disclaimer. Disclaimer premieres on Apple TV+ on Friday, October 11th with two episodes. New episodes will air every Friday.
Disclaimer is a seven chapter psychological thriller written and directed by five-time Academy Award winner Alfonso Cuarón and is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Renée Knight. The limited series follows acclaimed journalist Catherine Ravenscroft (Cate Blanchett) who receives a novel from an unknown author. As she reads the novel, she realizes that she is now the main character in a story that reveals her deepest and darkest secrets.
Catherine is now on a mission to discover the mysterious author before her past destroys her present life with her husband Robert (Sacha Baron Cohen) and their son Nicholas (Kodi Smit-McPhee). The closer she gets to discovering who is behind the novel, the more her life unravels before her very eyes. Why did Stephen Brigstocke (Kevin Kline) unleash this novel? The answer lies in Catherine’s dark past and how it’s tied to Stephen’s son.
The story is told through three perspectives: Catherine in the present day, Jonathan Brigstocke (Louis Partridge) in the past and how the novel came to be via Stephen and Nancy Brigstocke (Lesley Manville). The first episodes throws you right into the deep end of these converging timelines with no lifejacket. If you’re looking for handholding, these series might not be for you. For me personally, this concept immediately lured me in with intrigue begging to see how all the pieces fit together.
This is a story about perspective and how that can completely change the narrative of the story. The main piece of advice I want to leave you with for this series is: wait until you hear the whole story. It’s paramount to see all sides before truly deciding who the villain of this story actually is.
I firmly believe the acclaimed Cuarón came to TV just to flex his muscles with a long form story. And he more than succeeds. He brings out stellar from performances from the powerhouses Blanchett and Kline, but possibly the most surprising is Cohen. His role is a much more reserved and could even be unrecognizable to ones who only know him from Borat. To no surprise it’s shot and edited to perfection, with the three main perspectives being the anchor that keeps the audience engaged from the first scene.
To put it frankly Disclaimer is a pure work of art. It will suck you in with episode one and won’t let go until all seven chapters conclude. Even then, you will be left wondering what the real truth is. The limited series is a magnificent study of perspective, how you can always be the villain in someone else’s story.
