Killing Eve has everything you could ever want from an excellent crime drama – spies, assassins, intrigue and Sandra Oh.
A spy story retold – Killing Eve follows MI5 operative Eve Polastri (played by the excellent Sandra Oh), a desk jockey who’s growing increasingly bored with her job as her fantasies of being a spy remain unfulfilled.
That is until Eve connects a string of murders across Europe to Russian assassin Villanelle (played by Jodie Cromer) and is removed from behind her desk to track the dangerous killer. Eve quickly becomes obssessed with the alluring but psychopathic Villanelle and the two begin an epic game of cat and mouse.
The show doesn’t fall into the sleek-spy-pursues-psychopathic-killer trope, as Eve, a passionate but sloppy agent, follows the chillingly relatable assassin Villanelle which leads to a mutual obsession between the two women.
This thrilling crime drama was adapted from Luke Jennings novella Codename Villanelle and has been a critically acclaimed hit in America since its release in April, currently holding an impressive 97% rating on Rotton Tomatoes.
Killing Eve is unique in that it’s turned the spy genre on its head. Adapted for television by Phoebe Mary Waller-Bridge, the story follows characters and stories that would usually be portrayed by men.
Sarah Barnett, president and general manager of BBC America, said of the all-female cast and story; “Cat-and-mouse and assassin stories have been told so many times and for good reason: There is an enduring appeal there. What was so fascinating was that making these two leads female casts the genre in a whole new light. You realize how implicitly masculine this form of storytelling has been.”
Killing Eve is a refreshing, female-led clean-cut drama with performances that will leave the viewer enthralled with every moment of its twisted and dark tale.
