The Woman in Cabin 10

Aspiring to be Agatha Christie-lite, mounting a narrative that reminds one of the Knives Out films and attempting to throw in a bit of Hitchcockian suspense in a confined space setting, The Woman in Cabin 10 is the latest in the subgenre of unreliable female narrators, one that has gained momentum in the last decade with films like Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, Before I Go To Sleep, The Woman in the Window, et al. The Woman in Cabin 10, recently released on Netflix, is based on Ruth Ware’s 2016 novel, and swaps the manor-style/chamber drama setting reserved for mysteries of such kind for a cruise ship. While that may initially come across as inventive, one immediately realises that Christie did it almost 90 years ago with Death on the Nile, that found its way to the big screen in 1978 and then as recently as 2022.

Based on Ruth Ware’s bestselling novel, The Woman in Cabin 10, follows a journalist, Laura Blacklock, seeking the truth in a suspicious murder. With only herself as a witness, Laura is fighting a losing battle. Starring Keira Knightley as the determined heroine, the film features some cookie-cutter characters who fail to raise interest. The central mystery at the heart of this thriller is too easy to guess as well.