Directed by: Hans Herbots & Tom Shankland
Streaming on : Netflix
Cast: Tahar Rahim, Billy Howle, Jenna Coleman, Ellie Bamber, Mathilde Warnier, Tim McInnerny, Amesh Ederaweera, Fabian Frankel, Darshan Zariwala, Aly Khan, Stacy Martin, Pravesh Rana, Baby Meghan Jeremiah & others.
The sensational murderous journey of the notorious serial killer Charles Sobhraj is brilliantly executed in this delightfully directed web series. There have been several documented series and documentaries specially on bbc in the past chronicling Sobhraj’s intriguing crime story and even a forgettable Bollywood movie made five or six years ago but this series takes the cake and how!
In the mid 70s in Bangkok a young backpacker Dutch couple goes mysteriously missing and their charred dead bodies are found days later. A Dutch diplomat gets ethically engrossed in solving the mystery and soon gets entangled in a larger than life(or deadly) crime syndicate controlled by a notorious criminal Charles Sobhraj, an Asian with mixed breed and a cold blooded demeanour.
Soon the diplomat’s interest in the mystery goes beyond the Dutch couple’s murder as the dead bodies of hippies & backpackers keep piling up. Sobhraj goes on a murderous trail from Bangkok to Nepal, to Pakistan and Hongkong. The serpentine trail and well planned murders keep the police on their toes while Sobhraj manages to escape everytime he is nabbed.
We all know the Sobhraj story, most famous as the bikini killer (or responsible for bikini murders) thankfully the series do not project him as a hero. He’s shown to be humanly inhuman, cold blooded, who can go to any lengths to make those extra bucks and live a lavish lifestyle. As a viewer you’ll love to hate him and hate to love him.
The director duo do a commendable job here. What could’ve looked like a boring docu drama turns into an interesting edge of the seat thriller. Recreation of the 70s era must’ve been challenging and they do an exceptionally good job there. Eight episodes with each averaging around 57 minutes it isn’t too long or stretched. Some important incidents are skipped possibly due to legal hassles but there’s enough fodder in this series for mystery lovers.
Tahar Rahim is brilliant as Sobhraj, that killer smile, impressive murderous look, and great acting skills all add the most needed intrigue to the complicated and shady character he portrays on screen. Howle also gets a very good role and plays it well. Most touching was Coleman as the partner in crime, a complex role that she’s played so beautifully. It’s so important to have good actors in such content driven dramas, they tend to effortlessly raise the bar higher.
Technically as well it’s a well planned series, visually appealing. The art director Witoon ‘Boom’ Suanyai does a fine job so does the costume designer Peter Paul (with Rachael Walsh) with recreating the 70s retro attire.
A well crafted “biopic” which has more of high points with very negligible low points, must watch for anybody interested in the life & times of the infamous murderer Charles Sobhraj, it couldn’t have got more authentic than this! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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