As exam session is just on the corner, you might already feel swallowed up by the rampant rat-race which goes hand in hand with the end of each academic year. Anyway, in the light of the aforementioned craze that usually causes a huge lack of time regarding basically anything that you used to do in the ”normal” period of the year, breaking the mold by picking up a less time-consuming pastime activity would be quite a blooming idea. It goes without saying that in order to put up with the exam-stress that constantly looms over you, taking a small break every once in a while helps you to relax your mind and it is also beneficial if you want to improve your modus operandi. Not sure what to opt for, considering your limited time-bracket? Well, watching a miniseries is just the right leisure activity to venture your mind outside the prodigious world of assignments, Moodle exams and the perpetual loop of presentations.
Sharp Objects is really one of a kind when it comes to miniseries:with its eight episodes, HBO’s hugely successful production is an adaptation from Gillian Flynn’s debut novel of the very same title. It stole the show right the moment it was first aired on the 8th of July in 2018, due to not only following a skin-tingling storyline, but also, this no-holds-barred American psychological thriller unfolds with some mind-blowing twists that make the series an outstanding one. According to Vanity Fair, Gillian Flynn’s plot-twists in this production are even crazier than Gone Girl’s, so if you have seen that film, you can imagine how ditzy the twists and turns in this plot can be. Created by Marti Noxon and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, the top-notch cast was a really well-chosen one as the actors portray the quirky characters in quite a veridical manner. Among a pile of outstanding actors (like Chris Messina, Henry Czerny, Eliza Scanlen, Elisabeth Perkins), two stunning actresses, Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson turned out to be true masters of their craft, as proved by their performance in this miniseries: they illustrate both the sometimes sinister and the other times angelic virtues of their characters. Adams was nominated for the Golden Globe Awards for best actress in miniseries or television production category, while Patricia Clarkson won the Golden Globe Award for best supporting actress in the same category. Also, the series is laden with visually tuned content and I hasten to add that the visuals and the setting perfectly match with the whole mysterious atmosphere.
Amy Adams, who has captivated the audiences as Camille Preaker, the heroine of the story- an emotionally damaged and gnarled woman with serious alcohol-dependence and physical self-destruction. The Wind Gap native, yet now St. Louis based reporter, Camille is recently discharged from psychiatry, and her editor insists on Camille to return to her long-seen hometown to cover the case of a child-murder and one recent case of a 14-year old’s disappearance. To be honest, some scenes in the series seem quite uncensored, especially those of the brutally killed children. It’s really disgusting though, but they are shown in a no-holds-barred way. When Camille returns to her family’s Victorian mansion and gets a rather cold welcome from the behalf of her mother, Adora, a rich, neurotic socialite who has the tendency of constantly overbearing with her children. Camille barely knows her half-sister who pretends to be a typical good girl, nevertheless she riots against her mother’s acts of over-caring. Because Camille has to find out the truth behind the mysteries of the Wind Gap killings and she wants to have the job done as soon as possible (she wants to leave the much-hated hometown of hers), she re-connects with her bonds to this place. Having an array of unpleasant and even nightmare-like memories from her childhood spent in Wind Gap, Camille’s flashbacks of her past become more intense than ever before. Due to the acts of remembrance of the heroine’s, past merges well with the present in this series. As Camille digs deeper and deeper into the Wind Gap killings, her own demons start to play havoc with her. In order to have the story written and put the pieces of the crime-puzzle together, Camille needs to get out of her own psychological maze. The crux of the matter is, that the heroine starts to identify more and more with the victims, and step by step, everything gets more complicated, both in Camille’s private life and concerning the lassies’murder.
Indeed, this story is an action-packed, spine-tingling and a thrilling one, which, at the same time,might end up breaking your heart in a way. In a nutshell, what this miniseries stands for is displaying some sensitive matters with a sense of gloominess, like a family with its furtive, dark secrets, mothers’ role in today’s society, how sharp objects can hurt you but your experiences from your past can haunt you even more, while they pestle your soul into tiny pieces, along with some serious mental disorders that are also of paramount importance in the matter. In fact, the end leaves watchers with a tizzy. When Led Zeppelin’s “In The Evening” emerges abruptly at the gut-wrenching finale of the series, the shock of the beholder reaches a climax, as something really unexpected happens out of the blue, dispersing all previous theories about the killer, twisting the story entirely. By the way, the criminal’s identity is murky throughout the whole story, you can have some hints and guesses but once you think of some possible suspects, the next moment something will surely stir up a question regarding your guesses’ accuracy. I bet you would never have guessed who the killer was!
As far as the title “Sharp Objects” is concerned, it is a symbol that makes reference to the heroine’s tormented past that labeled her forever, in any sense of the word. There are some scars that can’t heal and words that hurt more than anything- basically, this is the main idea behind the title’s message. Sharp objects can hurt one physically, leaving a mark forever carved on the body, but there are the things in life that have the power to destroy more than any sharp object ever could. In the less-metaphoric sense of the title, there are some actual spiked objects which are key-elements as the plot unfolds.
Long story short, I recommend this riveting HBO series for basically anyone who enjoys to venture where they aren’t used to and those who aren’t afraid to be shaking in dread at times should definitely give it a go. What I can guarantee is that this miniseries is really the definition of a psychological thriller and it will drag you to the edge of your seats!