Sharp Objects Premiere ‘Vanish’ Review
Synopsis: Camille Preaker, a reporter for the St. Louis Chronicle, is sent to her rural hometown of Wind Gap by her editor, Curry, to file a story about two missing girls, one of whom was found dead and presumed murdered.
Directors: Jean-Marc Vallée
Writers: Gillian Flynn (written by & novel by), Marti Noxon (written by)
Cast: Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson, Chris Messina, Eliza Scanlen, Matt Craven, Henry Czerny, Taylor John Smith, Madison Davenport, Miguel Sandoval, Will Chase, Sophia Lillis, Lulu Wilson, Elizabeth Perkins
‘Vanish’ Air Date: 9 July 2018
Where to watch (AU): Showcase on Foxtel — Mondays from 11:00 AM with an encore at 8:30 PM AEST
Jean-Marc Vallée had phenomenal success with 2017’s dark, small-town drama Big Little Lies, based on the book by Liane Moriarty. It was my favourite series last year and, although they’re moving ahead with a second season, Vallée in 2018 shifted to direct the eight-episode run of Sharp Objects for HBO. Based on the novel from Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn, it shares some territory with Big Little Lies—female-led cast, small-town murder—but if the premiere showed anything, it’s that Sharp Objects is more True Detective than Desperate Housewives.
Amy Adams stars as Camille Preaker, a journalist and, by all accounts, not the greatest one if we’re trusting comments from Frank Curry, her editor. Camille has the drive to be good, but she’s also a drunk; empty vodka bottles litter her car and apartment. When Frank tells her to return to Wind Gap to report on a potential serial killer, she hesitates. Wind Gap is her hometown, and while Frank assumes she simply has family issues there, he makes it clear she doesn’t really have a choice.
Camille packs everything she needs into a brown paper bag, climbs into her unapologetically crappy car and hits the road. The concrete fades into fields and woods as she nears Wind Gap.
Like many elements in Vanish, Camille is introduced with mystery. We get glimpses of her past—IT actress Sophia Lillis portrays her wonderfully as a teen. Something happened to Camille, and the episode teases several possibilities—none good. Nightmares haunt her sleep; the vodka is self-medication.
It’s great to see Amy Adams in a role that’s a complete 180 from her DC turn as Lois Lane. Camille is obviously struggling, carrying a pain that Adams conveys with quiet strength.
The small-town vibe of Wind Gap and the missing girls is unsettling, but Camille’s mother, Adora—played by Patricia Clarkson—is the creepiest presence. From her first moment she’s just… off. The austere home (complete with an African-American butler) evokes Get Out, but it’s Adora’s compulsive eyebrow-plucking that really grates—an anxiety tic that Clarkson makes feel like nails on a chalkboard.
With subtle storytelling, Vallée isn’t afraid to demand your attention. Lesser directors might rely on voice-over—especially to explain what’s happening inside Camille’s head. Here, several sequences—particularly the drive to Wind Gap—use imagery and the music playing in the car as the storytelling mechanism. What’s happening around Camille is important; what’s happening across Wind Gap is just as important. You can follow the plot without hunting for every clue, but the details are there if you look.
Sharp Objects is a dark, beautiful sketch that digs its muddy claws in and forces you to pay attention. One scene in Vanish is particularly hard to watch and, by the episode’s final moments, a gruesome death hangs in the air with enough intrigue to carry you into next week. I can’t wait for the next episode—if the premiere is any indication, prepare for one of the year’s best new shows.
