Thriller fare with a holiday flair? The new Sky Original with Tom Hollander offers this interesting mix.
Nerve-wracking thriller entertainment doesn't have to be staged exclusively in pitch darkness and with a green tinge à la David Fincher (63). That proves it new series “The Iris Affair”which on October 16th on Sky and Wow starts. In it, sunny Italy is the linchpin of the gripping plot – and blossoms alongside the star of “The White Lotus”. Tom Hollander (58) and “Mary & George” actress Niamh Algar (33) become the third leading actor.
Dangerous savior – that's what it's all about
Iris Nixon (Algar) is blessed with an outstanding mind. When she manages to crack highly complex online puzzles, she finds herself in a piazza in picturesque Florence and makes the acquaintance of entrepreneur Cameron Beck (Hollander). After his unusual aptitude test, he not only immediately offers the genius a job. In the process, Beck also lets them in on a closely guarded secret that could steer the future of humanity in completely new directions.
The only question is: Is the powerful device that Iris sees really capable of “healing everything,” as Cameron grandly promises? Or does the technology pose an immense danger? Before long, Nixon began to have reasonable doubts as to whether her new boss's intentions were really as philanthropic as he claimed. She therefore steals the diary that contains the machine's activation sequence and runs away. It's the start of a fast-paced cat-and-mouse hunt across Italy.
Twilight meets lots of sun
Whether it's “On the Run” with Harrison Ford, “Public Enemy No. 1” with Will Smith or “No Country For Old Men” with Josh Brolin – Hollywood often rushes and chases its stars through the country and is usually well worth seeing. “The Iris Affair” proves that a story like this doesn't run out of steam, even in eight series episodes each lasting around an hour.
The location is partly responsible for this. Of course, “The Iris Affair” cannot avoid using classic tech thriller elements. In the Cameron Beck laboratory, for example, a lot of light bulbs were saved – here the environment is just as shady as the people who run the secret project. But this makes the contrast with sunny Italy all the greater, where the brilliantly clever Iris outsmarts her pursuers one after another after her escape. An interesting mix that gives the well-known thriller genre an unusual facet thanks to its atypical setting.
Strong ensemble behind the camera too
The other stars in leading roles include the Norwegian Kristofer Hivju, better known to “Game of Thrones” fans as the bearded wildling favorite Tormund. But there was also a strong ensemble behind the camera for “The Iris Affair”. The series creator is Neil Cross, who has already demonstrated his talent for thrilling series formats in many ways with the series “Luther” and “Hard Sun”.
Two people are currently responsible for directing “The Iris Affair”. Terry McDonough directed the first four episodes, Sarah O'Gorman the second half. McDonough, for example, was already responsible for several episodes of the acclaimed series “Breaking Bad”, while his colleague O'Gorman has “The Witcher” and “A Gentleman in Moscow” on her CV.
From October 16th, all eight episodes of the Sky original “The Iris Affair” will be available in one go. Viewers of Sky and the streaming service Wow can also take part in the fast-paced chase without an annoying break.