‘Full Circle’ is a top thriller full of speed

In Manhattan, a Guyanese gang kidnaps the grandchild of a wealthy chef. It is a remarkable kidnapping, which also goes horribly wrong. The kidnapping causes three completely different worlds to collide: the rich family of the child to be kidnapped, the police, and the gang. However, upon closer inspection, these three worlds appear to have become intertwined years earlier.

In the crime series Full circle director Steven Soderbergh pulls you through a complicated neo-noir story at lightning speed. A lot of darkness, a lot of moving camera – Soderbergh keeps things exciting. Screenwriter Ed Solomon ingeniously ties three storylines together, with an unexpected plot twist here and there. Despite the full story, he also has enough space to give his characters depth. No one is completely bad or good, is his message. And keeping silent works like a curse, which works long and wide in many lives.

hits

Soderbergh once started his film career with the art house hit Sex, Lies and Videotape. With the heist trilogy Ocean’s Eleven he then had a huge blockbuster. His other movie hits, like Erin Brockovich and Traffic, are somewhere in between: mainstream with an arthouse touch. So far it has been less successful with series. Together with Solomon (Men in Black, Now You See Me) he previously made the interactive series Mosaic, where you could view a murder case from different perspectives via the accompanying app. Nice idea, the series was discussed favorably, but did not stick.

Full circle does, mainly thanks to the strong actors who lift the six-part miniseries just above the average thriller. At the center of the drama are the parents of the child to be kidnapped. Claire Danes, who also had a very strong role in the series earlier this year Fleishman Is in Trouble, plays the mother who, apart from the kidnapping, also has to deal with the fact that her husband is hiding something, and that she eventually turns out to be hiding something herself. Feelings flash across her face like clouds in the wind.

Timothy Olyphant, who plays the father, is less present, but equally intriguing, with his doubtful, guilt-ridden attitude. Zazi Beetz plays with strength and taste the rebellious detective Harmony, who understands everything the fastest, but who is opposed by her superior.

Panicked bumbling

However, the show is stolen by two young, unknown actors: Adia and Gerald Jones. They play a Guyanese sister and brother who want to sabotage the kidnapping, but make it all much more complicated. The duo’s panicked bumbling lends heart to the series.

It is a pity that Soderbergh and Solomon put so much emphasis on the kidnapping story that there is little room to better portray the worlds they visit. The Guyanese community in Queens – you’d like to see more of that. If only because a spiritual Obeah ritual is essential to the plot. Especially in a series you can dwell on that. You don’t necessarily have to run to the denouement. By the way, screenwriter Solomon has not elegantly completed his complex story – in the last episode the detective still has to explain everything. Not very bad, the scenes of truth and reconciliation in that last episode just give the series extra warmth.