‘Disclaimer’ reviews: Is Alfonso Cuarón’s mysterious limited series ‘extraordinary,’ or is it ‘prestige pulp’?
Following a bow at the Venice Film Festival, Apple TV+ launches on October 11 one of the most impressively pedigreed TV projects of the year. Four-time Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón is the creator, writer, and director of the limited series “Disclaimer,” which stars two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett as Catherine, a journalist who becomes the subject of a novel that threatens to reveal her secrets. Oscar winner Kevin Kline plays the author, Oscar nominee Sacha Baron Cohen plays Catherine’s husband, Oscar nominee Kodi Smit-McPhee plays their son, and Oscar nominee Lesley Manville plays the author’s late wife. It boasts cinematography by three-time Oscar winner Emmanuel Lubezki and six-time Oscar nominee Bruno Delbonnel. Oh, and the composer is 10-time Grammy winner Finneas O’Connell (brother of Billie Eilish). Whew!
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That’s quite a cast and crew, so expectations are undoubtedly high. And judging by the reviews the project has more or less lived up to that standard. As of this writing the series has a “generally favorable” 73 score on MetaCritic based on 17 reviews counted thus far. Out of those reviews, 14 are classified as positive, while three are somewhat mixed, but none are outright negative. Over on Rotten Tomatoes, which counts reviews simply as positive or negative, the series is rated 78% fresh based on 40 reviews counted so far, nine of which are considered rotten.
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A few reviews are especially effusive in their praise. Kevin Maher (The Times) says, “The storytelling is exceptional — Cuarón writes sublimely about family dynamics, sexual jealousy and the definitive lies that we tell to those closest to us and the greater ones we tell, ultimately, to ourselves. It’s thoughtful, disturbing, thrilling and sometimes even overwhelmingly good.” Ben Travers (IndieWire) calls it “a cunning psychological thriller with twists and turns enough to thrive as pure entertainment,” though he expects “more than a few bitter reactions to Cuarón’s most provocative project since ‘Y Tu Mamá También.'” And John Anderson (Wall Street Journal) adds, “The pleasures to be had in creator-director Alfonso Cuarón’s extraordinary seven-part dramatic series are largely to be found in being led astray, kept in the dark, hungrily curious.”
Among the more ambivalent takes, however, Nick Schager (The Daily Beast) argues, “No amount of artistic talent, however, can salvage this seven-part series, which works when it embraces its pulpier instincts but unwisely opts, during its table-turning finale, to wag its finger at anyone who might have enjoyed its more thriller-ish aspects.” Nina Metz (Chicago Tribune) agrees that this is “prestige pulp” with an ending that’s “all fizzle, no fizz.” And Marshall Shaffer (Decider) comments, “The expanded latitude of a seven-part series turns the show into something of a stylistic sandbox for the ever-innovative director … But making one of the most cinematic television programs ever made comes at the expense of character detail and substantive story.”
So “Disclaimer” may not have received the unanimous huzzahs one might have expected for the director of “Gravity” and “Roma” and the star of “Tár,” but the consensus is nevertheless positive. The question is whether awards voters will be expecting something different, perhaps artier from this creative team and whether they’ll be able to resist Cuarón and his cast regardless of the style of narrative they’ve delivered. The series could be especially ripe for the Golden Globes, which often jump onboard what’s new and exciting rather than what’s older and well-worn. And if it has the commercial appeal and staying power of a “Big Little Lies” or “White Lotus,” it might make it all the way to next year’s Emmys.
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