Ripley

What makes someone want to make a film? Even more, what makes someone want to make a film again? The Talented Mr. Ripley is a perfectly decent movie, well acted, holding our attention, and conveying the essential nastiness of Patricia Highsmith’s original novel.

But now Netflix offers Ripley, eight one-hour episodes, and not content with that - it’s in black and white. And it’s terrific. Once you get over the hubris of the decision to make it this way, it’s a hypnotic watch, stylishly done so that the time is well spend, simply talking in the pictures as well as getting to know the characters and following the story.

And at the heart of it is Andrew Scott, for whom the word magnetic might have been invented. He doesn’t do anything obviously showy - sometimes, in fact, he seems to be doing nothing at all - but you can’t take your eyes off him. Just rivetting.