‘Stay Close’ review: This Harlan Coben adaptation gets it all wrong

Oh expensive! This Harlan Coben adaptation has received all of it fallacious. Whereas transferring the motion for variations of different Coben novels to Spain (The Harmless), Poland (The Woods) and France (Gone for Good) has labored, transferring Keep Shut from New Jersey and Atlantic Metropolis to an indeterminate location within the UK is an epic fail.

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There are huge, fats plotholes that you just can not start to get out and you’ll certainly lose curiosity in after spending about 30 seconds eager about them. Clearly, BAFTA-winning screenwriter Danny Brocklehurst, who has written some wonderful Coben variations, together with The Stranger, Protected and The 5, was unable to get a deal with on this one.

Keep Shut, primarily based on Coben’s 2012 novel, tells the story of three individuals: suburban mother Megan (Cush Jumbo), a police detective Broome (James Nesbitt) and a photographer Ray (Richard Armitage). Megan, although now residing the dream life with associate Dave (Daniel Francis) and their three youngsters — Kayleigh (Bethany Antonia), Laura (Tallulah Byrne) and Jordan (Dylan Francis) — was a stripper known as Cassie in one other life at a membership known as Vipers.

Cassie and Ray had been in love, however then one evening, a nasty man known as Stewart vanished and Cassie disappeared solely to reappear as Megan in a stupendous home 17 years later. Ray, a proficient photographer, (who for some unusual cause wants a darkish room to course of digital pictures) went to items after Cassie’s disappearance. Broome was the detective assigned to search out Stewart and has not been profitable for the final 17 years, which have to be fairly miserable and value him his marriage to Erin (Jo Joyner) although they proceed to work collectively.

When one other nasty man vanishes 17 years after Stewart did, all of it comes again. Broome sees a connection between the 2 disappearances and sees a manner of lastly laying Stewart’s ghost to relaxation. Cassie visits the Vipers earlier than her wedding ceremony, (why she does so is rarely convincingly defined) to set off a series of unlucky occasions. Ray will get right into a brawl at Vipers, whereas Kayleigh and her good friend Bea (Rachel Andrews) sneak into Vipers; gosh, it’s tiresome even going by the plot.

A horrid, psychopathic couple, Ken (Hyoie O’Grady) and Barbie (Poppy Gilbert)—clearly not their actual names — run about doing demented dance routines with a jolly little bit of torture on the facet. Sarah Parish is nice Lorraine, the hard-as-nails however golden hearted bartender at Vipers, and Eddie Izzard is Harry Sutton, a sort lawyer and high-functioning drug addict who helps those that are down on their luck.

Whereas beautiful-looking —even the police-provided secure home is attractive with a seashore view — the inconsistencies in Keep Shut are past annoying. How can all these individuals stay in the identical neighbourhood and by no means run into one another for 17 years? How can there be secret passages within the police station? How come no person thought to test the woods and the bunker? What do Megan and Dave do for a residing which has earned them a lot cash? The tone careens wildly between brutal and bland. By the point the promised twist comes on the finish, you might be past caring.

One can watch Keep Shut, should you completely should not have something to do… And even then, you may spend your time higher, watching The Stranger or The Woods yet another time.

Keep Shut is at present streaming on Netflix