The Greek god Zeus used to disguise himself as a swan, a bull, and an eagle to carry out his game of seduction. He was too sexually charged. In Malice, this information about Zeus is delivered by Adam (Jack Whitehall), and you can say that the king of the gods could have disguised himself as this character for another round of seduction. His target? Nat Tanner, who, in the hands of Carice van Houten, resembles Vera Farmiga. Why is Adam interested in Nat? Well, why not? She's beautiful. What's more, she, too, seems interested in Adam. During their first meeting, Nat compliments Adam's luggage (I know what you are thinking) and she looks at him with a smile that seems to say, "This guy is totally a snacc." Nat's husband, Jamie (David Duchovny), is obviously not pleased by Adam's presence. He's jealous, which is a valid reaction from a man who doesn't want anyone flirting with his spouse. By the way, who exactly is Adam? He works as a nanny — or call him a tutor — for Jules (Christine Adams) and Damien (Raza Jaffrey). This arrangement will soon change due to Adam's growing interest in Nat. And that interest, we will slowly find out, is based on a different feeling altogether.
So let's consider Adam from another angle. This time, go to the very first scene of Malice to catch sight of a snake writhing in the sandy, barren land. That snake crashes into the Tanners' family swimming pool after a while, and a little later, Adam appears. In another scene, we see two foxes, and in another, Adam complains that rats have entered the Tanner family's house in London. Yes, this obscenely charming nanny is a snake, a rat, a fox. If all this isn't crystal clear, let me just add that RemoteRAT is the hacking malware Adam uses to access a computer. It's evident that Whitehall enjoyed playing this character. One can sense the actor laughing on the inside while doing mean, horrible things as an irritating charmer. I found myself cringing whenever Adam, through his voice, tried to intrude on personal moments. In one scene, after using his voice, he starts a blender, breaking an intimate dance between Jamie and Nat. Whitehall converts his face into a punching bag and has a blast. We, on the other hand, don't get enough pleasure to cheer about.
The issue with this psychological thriller from James Wood is that it lacks a clear point of view; it feels disconnected from the characters' emotions. There isn't a single character for us to root for, nor is there anyone who genuinely scares us. Take Amsterdam Empire. There, too, we don't feel attached to anyone. The show, by giving us different shades of bad people, frees us from the obligation to care for anyone. We merely enjoy seeing the characters torture each other. They deserve all the punishment. But in Malice, even though everybody, in their own way, is flawed, we don't give a damn whether they survive or perish by the end of the show. They seem so distant from us. In Adam, Wood merely sees a psycho homewrecker, and the Tanner family for him is nothing more than a victim of Adam's actions. Malice works on this paper-thin formula and inserts an explanation in the form of a footnote, which is why it doesn't matter what Adam's motivations really are. He's not so different from a one-dimensional monster in the slasher genre. There are two or three enjoyable scenes, like the one where Adam puts a body in the trunk, but they only serve as temporary distractions from the overall monotony, the blandness.
There is one striking image in which a drunk Jamie looks like a dog and Adam, his owner, but given how visually uninteresting everything else is, that shot exists in isolation. Since Jamie and Nat are rich, Wood might have felt obligated to include a commentary on rich vs. poor (no one from the Tanner family volunteers to pick up their original nanny from the hospital, even though they shower her with compliments), but it's half-baked and unremarkable. Who's the target audience for Malice? This is the question that, in the end, came to my mind. It's a busy show, not engaging. Also, the destination isn't worth the journey (the show concludes with what seems like an open ending, though it's also possible Wood wants to leave the door open for a second season). Hey, at least Houten looks good, and Whitehall has a good time. One can, then, say that the target audience for this show is its own cast, who can either admire their beauty or their performances (the best we can do is admire the scenery, but even in that department, YouTube videos emerge as the winners). Malice, in that respect, can be taken as a self-reflexive project. It's self-contained, self-satisfied, and forgettable.
Final Score- [4/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times