The name of Steven Moffat He is associated by many with ‘Doctor Who’, something logical given his successful stage at the head of the popular science fiction series and now he has also returned to it again. Nor should we forget ‘Sherlock’, a successful adaptation of the character created by Arthur Conan Doyle, but the one that interests us now is ‘From inside’his latest creation that landed this week on Netflix after its premiere on the BBC just a few weeks ago.
‘From the inside’ is an unusual thriller that throughout 4 episodes It proposes two narrative lines that are obviously much more connected to each other than it might seem at first. Fascinating in general terms, which could have ended up being a disaster due to the ingredients used, finally stands as a quite remarkable title in which Stanley Tucci and David Tennant shine with their own light.
an unexpected mix
In ‘From the inside’ something curious happens, since It is a series that should not work because of the mix it proposes. In fact, they could very well be two series totally isolated from each other, one following the tremendous mess in which the pastor of a church played by Tennant gets into and another with a death row inmate helping in unsolved cases.
Delighted with life, I would watch both series, but Moffat has the audacity to unite them, also ensuring that they are never out of tune and knowing when to focus interest on each of them so that everything progresses in a logical and orderly way -and that in some decisions of the characters seem motivated by choosing the worst possible option-. That said, it is inevitable that a certain contrast will arise that could be an impediment for some viewers to connect with what ‘From the inside’ tells us, but even they will find enough virtues here to compensate for all the drawbacks they may put in the series.
On the one hand, we have a Tucci in a state of grace with a restrained interpretation that mainly consists of displaying unparalleled intelligence. He is always ahead of the others and you can’t help but want to see him on screen for more minutes, and that which really is the destabilizing element of the seriessince everything related to Tennant could work perfectly in isolation.
In fact, the main axis of interest lies in the internal and external struggle of a religious man to protect his family, with Tennant embroidering it when it comes to showing the moral dilemma that his character has to face. There the series finds an essential emotional hold so that later Moffat allows himself to be a bit playful and twisted in moving the story forward.
Other details
For this, it is decisive that the main victim of the situation does not assume at any time that passive condition to which he seemed condemned. It is true that already in the remarkable opening sequence it is clear that the character played by a stupendous Dolly Wellswho had already collaborated with Moffat in ‘Dracula’, has a lot of initiative for compromising situations, but it is later when he helps to spice up the series.
In addition, that allows the series to also push the character of the shepherd’s wife more to the limit (Lyndsey Marshal) and everything more complicated without that more eccentric touch of ‘From the inside’ becoming something that ends up destroying the credibility of the series. And it can not be said that we are facing a thriller to use, but neither is it outside the parameters that one might expect.
It is in that game between giving the viewer what they expect but doing it unexpectedly that Moffat’s scripts work best, counting on the support of an effective and functional staging of paul mguiganScottish director whom some may remember for having signed another most peculiar thriller such as ‘The Slevin Affair’.
By the way it is true that not all the turns proposed by Moffat are equally effectivebut in ‘From the inside’ he shows that he has an innate gift for knowing how to hook the viewer and for managing two apparently conflicting plots, making the resolution feel like something inevitable without giving the impression of being too predictable.
In short
The alliance between the BBC and Netflix already gave us great joy last year with ‘The Serpent’ and now it has achieved it again with ‘From the Inside’, an absorbing miniseries ideal to watch in one afternoon that you have free and do not want to complicate yourself by choosing several movies. It won’t change your life, but it would be very rare for it to end up looking like a waste of time. Of course, hopefully we will see Tucci’s character again one day. He has too much hook to stay only in these four episodes.
In Espinof: