An excellent thriller – not least as the focus was on a disintegrating relationship rather than a crime. Set in the world of ultra-high pressure finance (hedge funds etc. etc.) there was a fine balance between the personal drama unfolding between the protagonists (dating and planning marriage when working at the same business which was not really allowed/looked on favorably).
The dialogue is when in the office, necessarily pretty impenetrable (‘we need to buy short at 3.7% while the Corton Index is below the market rate…etc etc) but nowhere nearly as utterly baffling in the BBC series Industry.
The two central characters have a fascinating and, as it turns out, mutually toxic relationship and it is this that drives the drama. However, it is the promotion of one is the trigger that starts to tumble their house of cards. The relationship is very, often violently, sexual and this gives a grimly dark tone to everything. In places it recalled The War of the Roses, although without the black humour of that very underrated film.
I was very impressed by the soundtrack; the use of heavily symbolic songs (a dire cliché in almost every drama of whatever type nowadays) was commendably restricted but the background sounds – the office, the street, a nightclub scene, were very well done and you picked up exactly what you needed to pick up. This often had major significance for the drama as well – for instance after one emotional climax the level of sound in the street heard by one of the participants was very high and marked. One also had a very strong sense of the devilish energy of the city (NYC) which was the perfect match for the work environment.
The plotting was riveting and were very well manipulated, causing us to be wholly involved in the toxic relationship and, by the end, not to feel in any way disappointed that traditional thriller elements were completely missing from this drama which was essentially a drama about work and relationships (amongst other matters).
A very good and gripping drama with excellent performances all round.