Expats

[Drunk Monk]

Expats

 
This miniseries is by Lulu Wang who did The Farewell. She has a keen eye for Asia and captures Hong Kong very well. Nicole plays a mother of 2 but she lost a child and is broken by it. She has a good friend with an alcoholic cheating husband. Then there’s the babysitter who lost the child.

The first ep is a party for Nicole’s husband’s 50th. A lot is unsaid but by inference things are revealed. It’s tragic and tense. There’s sex scenes (the cheating husband). the HK backdrop is rich and lush, toggling between the cluttered urban sprawl to the upper class of the peak. 

Ep 2 is the flashback to the loss of the child. It’s a clever device because by now, what exactly happened is a mystery that demands explanation. And that’s done very well. It’s all super dramatic and tragic.

This is one of those dramatic tour de forces of Nicole. She has many emotionally complex scenes and she portrays them with her usual precision. Her ability to pull me into her feelings with the tiniest of facial expressions still impresses. At first, I was distracted by her intensity sculptured sternocleidomastoids - so firm and pert. Then she shows off her wiry back in a backless evening gown. Her physicality is still sharp in her 50s. I am encouraged that her husband is Asian and not some dumb country singer. 

It’s a stylish show, Uber dramatic and complexly layered. I’m interested to see where it’ll go. 

6 hourlong eps. I’m down.

Not D00M recommended. I think I’m the only Nicole fanboy here.