Ordeal By Innocence

The three-episode period drama deviates from the book’s narrative yet still manages to weave an equally intriguing whodunit.

The sense of dread and guilt that permeates each interaction, combined with the flashback structure that makes this more ghost story than murder mystery, almost makes each of the Argylls at fault in their own way.

It’s not subtle--and occasionally outright dumb--but it’s a gorgeous, beautifully acted bit of squalor, nevertheless.

Relentlessly dark, occasionally exhausting and altogether gripping adaptation of Christie’s 1958 novel.

Ordeal by Innocence will fill your whodunit needs. And it’ll be lovely to look at in the process, because it is a gorgeous mini-series. But those lovely surfaces aren’t anchored to a propulsive enough story, so when it tries to polish, complicate, and heighten the usual Christie tropes--the flashbacks, the looping story structure, and the fascination with beautiful images of dripping blood and foreshortened statuary--the whole thing feels overwrought.

It’s a smart, attractive, and well-acted version.

Occasionally it’s a little too jumpy, but Ordeal by Innocence is saved, again, by gorgeous costuming and set design, with the colors coordinated in ways that make every frame an artistic expression.

Every part is well-performed, but the most-acclaimed veterans--Nighy, Goode, Treadaway--do somewhat steal the show. All three are, as they almost always are, reason enough to watch on their own. And you get a crackling mystery too.