In the category of ‘performances that are tough to follow’, Jodie Foster’s Oscar-winning performance in the multi-award-winning The Silence of the Lambs ranks highly. So, credit must go to former Home and Away actress Rebecca Breeds for stepping into Clarice Starling’s shoes for a series that picks up one year after the events of that film. And she does a pretty good job. It’s just a pity the script doesn’t match her performance.
Suffering extreme PTSD from her encounter with Buffalo Bill, Starling is ‘encouraged’ back to the front line by Attorney General Ruth Martin – whose daughter Catherine Starling she saved from being skinned – and we’re off and running with a Big Pharma conspiracy series arc interlaced with the odd ‘killer of the week’ storyline.
There is a grimness to the series (that’s a compliment) as serial blockbuster penman Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet draw on Jonathan Demme’s film for inspiration; there are directorial homages throughout, and the aesthetic of Silence is expertly emulated. But despite that strength of style, the substance feels somewhat lacking.
Sadly, Clarice is late to a pic-n-mix where all the best treats have been taken. Hannibal began well, before drifting into stylised indulgence yet dealt at length, and for the most part successfully, with the emotional and psychological effects of hunting killers. And Mindhunter strips the behavioural science through-line back to its germination superbly. And that’s before we get into the lack of Lecter (rights issues prevent his name or that of Jack Crawford making an appearance).
Ultimately Clarice is a good, atmospheric police procedural with strong performances. And perhaps that’s just about enough.
CLARICE begins on the UK’s Alibi Channel in December
