mgumsley Review of Flesh and Blood

Flesh and Blood (2020)

Murder mystery feels a bit like a soap opera

[7/10 · 28 February 2020]

I am a huge fan of Francesca Annis, Imelda Staunton and Stephen Rea, so to see all three of them together in a potboiler like this was an enormous pleasure. I find with so many of these mystery stories that the story plays second fiddle to the acting and setting, as it tends to in this family drama. The trouble is this drama never solves the problem of the body on the beach, and whilst you could understand Vivien's family never truly accepting Mark who is after all a stranger to them, they do seem to gang up on him in a really unruly way, and Mary's relationship with the family is creepily close. What I did find annoying is that the drama at times focused more on the three children, and I tended to lose sight of Vivien and Mark at times, and this is why I never suspected any of them - they were so busy spinning round in their own little worlds and only focused on their mother when it came to their get togethers. This is I suppose what happens with retired people like Vivien and Mark and why for me Mary always had to be the main suspect as she had more to lose. But having said that, I don't think the finale none theless proves my theory anyway. The story did keep me interested and I love the setting; the white cliffs made me think of Dover but other places in England have them as well.