The Drowning

:

Season 1
Metascore
73

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8

Critic Reviews

  1. i
    Reviewed by: Emily Baker
    Dec 3, 2021
    80
    The first half ambled glacially to a point of intrigue, when Jodie decided to pursue her hunch despite protestations from those around her, but once there, The Drowning found its feet as a highly watchable case of (possibly) mistaken identity.
  2. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Dorothy Rabinowitz
    Apr 29, 2021
    80
    Its somewhat uneven storytelling aside, “The Drowning” emerges as a potent thriller, largely thanks to a stellar cast.
  3. The Guardian
    Reviewed by: Lucy Mangan
    Apr 23, 2021
    80
    The Drowning pays much attention to the endurance and the depths of a bereaved parent’s sorrow and how guilt manifests, while refusing to go in for big dramatic gestures at the expense of this hard-won authenticity.
  5. The Telegraph
    Reviewed by: Anita Singh
    Apr 23, 2021
    80
    It’s a no-nonsense thriller, competently acted by its leads to keep us guessing: Halfpenny plays Jodie as a woman who could equally be deluded by grief or bang on the money; Penry-Jones’s character is inscrutable.
  6. Decider
    Reviewed by: Joel Keller
    May 7, 2021
    70
    The Drowning has some aspects that are a little on the unbelievable side, but for the most part it’s a well-written, well-acted psychological mystery.
  7. Radio Times
    Reviewed by: Flora Carr
    Dec 2, 2021
    60
    Despite some of the more predictable set-ups and revelations, at its heart the show is about a grieving woman. And somehow, it’s by building the series around this most familiar of emotions that The Drowning still manages to feel fresh.
  8. The Times
    Reviewed by: Carol Midgley
    Apr 23, 2021
    60
    The Drowning is one of those daft-as-a-brush thrillers where six impossible things happen before breakfast, but, like Alice in Wonderland, you either buy into it and buckle in for the ride or bail out and watch something more credible instead.
  9. The Independent
    Reviewed by: Ed Cumming
    Apr 23, 2021
    60
    The tension of the “is he/isn’t he” question rests on the coherence of the universe. Whether Jodie is right or not, it’s more effective if she is living on our planet. This feels too much like TV land.