Since I'm functionally illiterate I don't read much and because I'm a man I don't follow the best-selling books that women snap up then get made into movies like It Ends With Us or The Woman on the Train, but there's got to be a section in bookstores called "Trashy Beach Reads," right? RIGHT?!? Because that's where the novel which shares the title of this week's Netflix Original The Woman in Cabin 10 would've been shelved.
Keira Knightley (Natalie Portman's Queen Amadala decoy in Star Wars - Episode One - The Phantom Menace) stars as Laura "Lo" Blacklock, an investigative journalist for The Guardian who is traumatized by her last story and thus accepts an invitation for what should be a puff piece where she will ride on the superyacht of billionaire Richard Bullmer (Guy Pearce, LA Confidential) from England to Norway where he will be announcing a foundation dedicated to curing cancer because his wife, Anne (Lisa Loven Kongsli), has Stage 4 leukemia.
Also on the yacht are a select handful of fellow Very Rich Folk and influencers (whose characters are so stock generic that "she's on Ted Lasso" is a distinguishing characteristic) as well as Lo's ex-boyfriend, Ben (David Ajala, Star Trek: Discovery), a photographer in Bullmer's employ. He's trying to charm her back, but she's not having it.
After setting sail, she is summoned by Anne to advise her on a speech she intends to give at the party announcing that all the money would be given to an independent group, effectively cutting Richard off. Anne knows she's nearing the end and has stopped taking the medications. Because she easily tires, they agree to reconvene the next day.
While returning to her room, Lo doges Ben by ducking into Cabin 10 (roll credits!) next to hers (convenient how the doors don't lock) where she encounters a young blonde woman (Gitte Witt) in a hoodie coming from the bathroom. After an awkward moment, Lo leaves and goes to her cabin.
That night, she's awakened by a disturbance next door, raised voices & sounds of violence, culminating with a splash in the water. Rushing onto her balcony, she sees a woman in the water and raises the alarm, causing the crew to rush to investigate, but they find nothing and start giving her the side eye, blaming her PTSD over a subject of her last story drowning to trigger a nightmare. Also, Cabin 10 is supposed to be empty, so clearly Lo is imagining things.
As Lo tries to figure out who this woman was, Anne seems different as well, complaining of how fatigued the drugs are making her and forgetting that she was supposed to meet with Lo about her speech.
To say the movie's clue breadcrumbs are the size of bread loaves would be an understatement, though when the Big Twist is revealed halfway through, I didn't see it coming. But it then turns the rest of the movie into how will Lo expose the plot versus how will the villain(s?) get away with it. The denouement is absolutely bonkers, raising the question of how the villain thought they were going to carry on after what transpired.
Running a tidy 95-minutes, The Woman in Cabin 10 doesn't overstay its welcome or pretend to matter more than it does. It's a trashy beach read without the sand getting everywhere.
The Dolby Vision and Atmos presentation is fine, but unexceptional due to the most steely gray color palette and predominance of darker scenes. There are a few moments of bright specular highlights or overt heigh channel usage, but not so much that those not paying the top tier freight to Netflix will miss it.
Score: 6/10. Catch it on Netflix.
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