Written and produced by David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, Mr. Mercedes) and directed by Susanne Bier (The Night Manager, Bird Box), HBO’s gripping psychological mystery miniseries made history back in November when it became the network’s first original series to gain viewership each week over the course of the season, eventually becoming HBO’s most-watched show of 2020.
Based on the 2014 novel You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Undoing stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant as Grace and Jonathan Fraser, a successful therapist and paediatric oncologist, respectively, who have everything they want in life. They have the big house in Manhattan, a lifestyle most would dream of, and their young son Henry (Noah Jupe) at the elite Reardon School, a private academy for only the very wealthy.
However, for Grace, everything changes following an encounter with the enigmatic Elena – the mother of a scholarship pupil at Reardon – and the Fraser’s perfect world suddenly begins to unravel with devastating consequences. When Elena’s brutally beaten body is discovered in her art studio, Jonathan mysteriously disappears without trace and becomes the main suspect in her murder, putting Grace and the family at the centre of a national media frenzy.
Strange casting choices and wandering accents aside (Kidman and Noma Dumezweni as the Fraser’s defence lawyer particularly struggle with their American accents), The Undoing is a gripping, edge-of-your-seat mystery that keeps the viewer hooked and guessing throughout its six, captivating episodes. Donald Sutherland and Lily Rabe are standouts in a strong supporting ensemble.
Looking at the disc itself, HBO and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s superb Region Free Blu-ray edition offers crisp, richly detailed video that highlights the exceptional production values and varying colour palette. The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is expertly rendered with crystal clear dialogue and an equally crisp soundtrack. Bonus features are sadly lacking and clock in at little over 20-minutes combined. The (very) brief EPK segments are interesting but it lacks an in depth making of piece or any commentary tracks.
