Hours have been spent endlessly scrolling the Netflix home page in search of your next film to watch.
Whether it’s looking through the most popular charts or flicking through a certain genre, all the choices can be overwhelming.
But next time you sit on your sofa with a bag of popcorn at your side, one crime drama with a cast of some of the best actors of a generation can leave you on the edge of your seat – but you don’t have long before it’s taken off the streaming service.
Teaming up for the adaptation of Nicolas Searle’s hit novel The Good Liar, Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Helen Mirren produce a solid performance as a “cat-and-mouse duet” of a serial conman and his unsuspected victim.
The story begins as Roy Courtnay, played by McKellen, targets a wealthy widow, Betty McLeish, on an online dating site after finding out she is hiding savings of more than two million pounds.
After faking an injury and being taken into the home of Betty, the two strike up a friendship where he tries to convince her to put her savings into a joint offshore account so he could swindle her out of her fortune.
Murders, twists, turns and secrets all get uncovered along the way, which is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat as you try to figure out what is real and who is really telling the truth.
Alongside the two leads are Nell Williams and Lucian Msamati from Game of Thrones, as well as Ted Lasso’s Phil Dunster and supporting roles from Russell Tovey and Jim Carter.
The film received mostly positive reviews and is recommended for a “good way to pass the time on a rainy afternoon in the autumn”, but without being a cinematic masterpiece that will leave you deep in thought.
On Rotten Tomatoes, film critic Eddie Harrion wrote: “The Good Liar aims to keep us guessing, and just about makes it to the conclusion without any let-up in tension.
“A smart, well-performed drama with a couple of vintage performances from the most respected of actors.”
While another was less impressed with all the twists and turns wrote: “Despite The Good Liar’s many plot issues, it remains a cracker of a thriller that’s worth a watch.”
It received a respectable critic score of 64% on the reviewing website, but audiences tend to enjoy the mysteries much more, scoring an impressive 85% on the Popcornmeter.
The New York Post summarised: “The fun of The Good Liar is that, just when you think you’ve got a proper handle on what’s going on, your reality is completely shattered.”
The film is available to stream for free on Netflix for just a few more weeks, as it will be taken off the streaming site on October 10.
