DisclaimerReview: Cate Blanchett Plays a Journalist in Danger of Being Canceled in the Gripping Apple TV+ Series

Mar. 15, 2025

But that can be fun, no?  BecauseDisclaimeris definitely entertaining. It’s a shame, really, you can’t just go ahead and binge the whole thing.

Worse for the grownup Catherine, the book is a ripping good read that gradually finds an audience. If she’s ever exposed, her brand will be damaged.

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When she overhears people describing the book’s villain as death-deserving, Blanchett, who’s at her most entertaining when most boldly extreme, flinches like a cat dodging a squirt from a water pistol.

Meanwhile, we meet that mysterious Preston, whose real name is Stephen Brigstocke (Kevin Kline). He’s a retired British schoolteacher with a slight paunch and a patina of crumminess—he’s like a carpet that could use a good vacuuming to pick up cat hair.

Observing the world with a mingled air of disgust and despair, Brigstocke possesses an intimate knowledge of the tragedy depicted inStranger. So did his late wife (Lesley Manville), who was so shaken she lost the will to live. Brigstocke, ever so resourceful and ever so sly, also manages to worm his way into Catherine’s family, undermining her marriage to Robert (Sacha Baron Cohen, cast against type in a tidy-manHugh Grantrole).

It’s a plummy theatrical performance—likeJohn Lithgow’s Churchill inThe Crown—and it pretty much steals the show.

Disclaimerunfolds with great narrative confidence, never rushing things, letting the unpleasant details seep in. The episode that finally shows us the terrible event in Catherine’s past is one of the best hours of television you’re likely to see: scary, suspenseful, devastating. It’s every bit as powerful as a theatrical film (and slightly reminiscent of the shattering finale ofRoma).

The wrap-up, on the other hand, is unconvincing and weak, an act of narrative laziness that—ironically, given Catherine’s history—borders on deceit. You may find yourself wishingDisclaimercould disclaim its finale.

Well, that can’t be done.

source: people.com