时间:2025-03-01 00:49:30 来源:网络整理编辑:綜合
Expats kicks off with a wave of tragedies. A doctor falls asleep at the wheel, killing three pedestr
Expats kicks off with a wave of tragedies. A doctor falls asleep at the wheel, killing three pedestrians. Pilots of a small aircraft get too close to a ski lift, their plane wing cutting the cable and sending skiers plunging to their deaths. A friendly tussle between two twin brothers results in one being paralyzed for life. All accidents, all shattering the lives of victims and perpetrators alike.
Recounting these stories in a matter-of-fact tone is Mercy (Ji-young Yoo), a young woman who positions herself as the perpetrator of an unknown tragedy and who bears the burden of it every day. "People like me," she wonders, "are they forgiven?"
SEE ALSO:38 TV shows we can't wait to see in 2024That question is one of many Expats creator Lulu Wang (The Farewell) seeks to untangle over this six-episode miniseries. Also joining the fray are ideations on motherhood, marriage, and sense of place, all of which connect a web of Hong Kong-based expatriates like Mercy. Wang spins this web deftly for the most part, even as the latter episodes begin to flag.
Along with its opening stories of doctors and pilots and twins, Expats, adapted from Janice Y.K. Lee's 2016 novel The Expatriates, centers on a tragedy of its own — one that forever changes the lives of three American women living in Hong Kong.
Our initial gateway into their lives is former architect Margaret (Nicole Kidman). Her greatest frustration used to be the housewife status that came with her husband Clarke's (Brian Tee) relocation to Hong Kong for work. However, that's been overshadowed by the disappearance of her youngest son, Gus (Connor James). Her grief is ever-present, clouding her actions and her relationships to everyone around her, including the rest of her family.
SEE ALSO:Prime perk: Grab two free Kindle books this monthMargaret lives in the same luxury apartment complex as businesswoman Hilary (Sarayu Blue), whose marriage to David (Jack Huston) is fast approaching the breaking point due to issues of infertility and infidelity. Making matters worse is David's behavior on the night Gus went missing, which has increased the rift between him and Hilary and created further tension with Margaret.
Rounding out the trio is Mercy. A recent Columbia graduate, Mercy struggles to find a clear direction, flitting on the edges of friend groups and the fancy events she works at as a caterer. Her disconnect from her surroundings stems not from general apathy but from a bone-deep sense of guilt about her role in Margaret's loss.
Wang peels apart exactly how all these women are related by moving backward and forward in time, showing us the build-up to Gus's disappearance and the aftermath. Everyone and everything in this series orbits around this one event, and the consequences — from blowout fights to affairs — are as varied as they are painful.
There's a lot to love about Expats, especially how Wang mines the deep emotional stakes of even the most mundane moments. In her hands, and thanks to the performances of Kidman, Blue, and Yoo, a walk to an elevator or a simple car ride can speak volumes.
Kidman does an admirable job shouldering Margaret's grief, but it's Blue and Yoo who steal the show. Blue's Hilary is often outwardly restrained, her rehearsed smiles at business dinners barely hinting at personal turmoil beneath. Yet as that restraint crumbles over the show's run, Blue unveils Hilary's vulnerabilities with quiet, deliberate care. By contrast, Yoo's Mercy feels wilder, masking her guilt with dark jokes until the pain overwhelms her and she lashes out. It's a staggering performance, especially when coupled with Mercy's navigation of her outsider status in Hong Kong.
SEE ALSO:'In the Know' review: Stop-motion satire from Mike Judge and Zach WoodsYes, all three women are outsiders, yet Hilary and Margaret keep themselves in a bubble of wealth and fellow expats. Meanwhile, Mercy often finds herself explaining to Hong Kong citizens that she's actually Korean American and doesn't speak Cantonese. Her relationship to her own identity as she navigates her time in Hong Kong makes for Expats' most meaningful exploration of the impacts of displacement.
Despite the entire show taking place in Hong Kong, with Wang employing a number of gorgeous shots of its high rises and crowded streets, the city and its inhabitants can sometimes fade into the background. That seems to mimic how Hilary and especially Margaret experience Hong Kong: They spend most of their time in their bubble, and very little time trying to embed themselves in the city.
Expats spends most of its run in that bubble as well, only truly breaking out for its fifth episode, "Central." Over its hour-and-a-half runtime, "Central" dives deeper into the lives of side characters like Essie (Ruby Ruiz) and Puri (Amelyn Pardenilla), Margaret and Hilary's housekeepers. Originally from the Philippines, Essie and Puri are expats too, and we get a glimpse into their own communities and the families they may have left at home. Particularly fascinating is Hilary and Puri's relationship, which toggles between employer and employee to confidants, depending on Hilary's emotional state.
Also highlighted in "Central" is political turmoil in Hong Kong, specifically the 2014 Umbrella Movement. Notably, Expats garnered controversy while shooting in Hong Kong, in part because of worries it would ignore valuable political context in favor of focusing on privileged foreigners, and in part because of an easing of COVID-19 restrictions for stars while filming. The spotlight on the Umbrella Movement, as well as references to the "old Hong Kong" dying, seem like responses to that criticism. Unfortunately, shoehorning them into a supersized episode towards the end of the series is an inelegant solution. Any political sentiment fails to get the space it needs to breathe. The same goes for Puri and Essie's stories, which still feel sandwiched between their employers' angst.
This isn't to say that Margaret, Hilary, and Mercy's stories aren't worth watching: They are, and they are bristling with moving musings on what it means to try to process pain when you're so far from home. But they work so much better when they consider the city where they take place. For example, in one standout sequence, a trip to a night market goes from an enchanting evening to a nightmare in the span of seconds. Later, Wang zooms out, showing the market's daily routine in full, and you become aware of just how small (but no less heartbreaking) these stories are in the context of the larger city of Hong Kong. It's an absolute gut punch of a moment — one Expats, while compelling, could use even more of.
Expats is now streaming on Prime Video.
TopicsAmazon Prime VideoStreaming
Old lady swatting at a cat ends up in Photoshop battle2025-02-28 23:56
德國大名單:穆勒基米希領銜 維爾納哈弗茨在列2025-02-28 23:44
曼城奪冠維拉有賞錢 ? NO,利物浦問鼎狼隊才分贓2025-02-28 23:43
紅軍人!傑拉德談對陣曼城:會全力給他們製造困難2025-02-28 23:33
Aly Raisman catches Simone Biles napping on a plane like a champion2025-02-28 23:15
希丁克:如果2002年世界杯有孫興慜 韓國隊能打進決賽2025-02-28 22:48
巴黎為留姆巴佩願交付決定權 允許其更換球員教練2025-02-28 22:45
巴媒:高拉特回巴西後表現不佳 原因是中超強度低和膝蓋傷病2025-02-28 22:43
WhatsApp announces plans to share user data with Facebook2025-02-28 22:26
海港已為奧斯卡預訂飛中國的機票 穆伊世預賽附加賽後歸隊2025-02-28 22:05
Florida hurricane forecast remains uncertain, but trends in state's favor2025-03-01 00:48
海港已為奧斯卡預訂飛中國的機票 穆伊世預賽附加賽後歸隊2025-03-01 00:45
西甲主席 :如果沒有財務造假 巴黎不可能續約姆巴佩2025-03-01 00:25
曼聯官方 :林加德合同到期離隊 結束21年紅魔生涯2025-03-01 00:10
Snapchat is about to explode in popularity, report says2025-02-28 23:52
曼城PK曼聯利物浦爭三獅悍腰 預計需砸6000萬鎊2025-02-28 23:30
韓國女足將赴加拿大對陣奧運冠軍 為女足世界杯熱身2025-02-28 23:17
津媒:若有球隊退賽 足協不會遞補低級別聯賽球隊升超2025-02-28 23:12
'Rocket League' Championship Series Season 2 offers $250,000 prize pool2025-02-28 22:48
PFA最佳球員:C羅德布勞內領銜 利物浦三人入圍2025-02-28 22:13