Big Little Lies | Review

Big Little Lies is a mood piece. Cliched dialogue and plot contrivances aside, this show wants you to step into a thick, melancholic fog and forget which way you entered. Having watched it twice now, once alone and once with my partner, the mystery is quite obvious at many points throughout the series. In fact, the twist is unsurprising in one breath, and heavily overdone in another. Yet the slow, meandering, and atmospheric path that Big Little Lies creates for its viewers manages to mystify them despite this occasional heavy-handedness. The title sequence should win an award on its own. With a haunting track from Michael Kiwankua, gorgeous visuals of Monterey’s rugged coast, and each of the central characters walking up to the camera one at a time and piercing through the viewer, this sequence does an incredible job of setting the tone for each episode. The show’s heavyweight cast perfectly balances the naturalism of the environment with the theatricality of the performances. Nicole Kidman is particularly astounding here as Celeste, carrying her with the wafish elegance of Jackie Kennedy - a porcelain exterior to a very broken soul. The scenes between Celeste and her therapist are a masterclass in acting, as we watch a mixture of delusion, long-buried pain, and horrific revelations play across Kidman’s face with subtlety and restraint. Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Zoe Kravitz, and Shailene Woodely also bring depth and diversity of character, working together to convince the audience that these women are vastly different, despite their overwhelming similarities. Jean-Marc Vallée’s deft hand is evident in every episode - imbuing a soft darkness to an otherwise sunny and picturesque setting. Episode 4, “Push Comes to Shove” is a work of perfection - with quick, cerebral editing and extradiegetic scenes that play out like a series of repressed memories and dreams. You really get a sense of Vallée’s personal tastes here -  soul music, delicate cardigan-clutching wives, precocious children, and subdued palettes. His personal involvement in the stylistic choices of the show elevate it to the realm of art - a welcome change to the cold, clinical humdrum churned out by these media conglomerates every year at increasing rates. Big Little Lies pushes HBO further along in its prestigious legacy. What an excellent show.