NETFLIX’S Pieces of Her is based on a bestselling novel by Karin Slaughter. The eight-episode series is an effective thriller that’s good enough to keep you mystified until the end – but ultimately not interesting enough to make you fall in love with the series.
Toni Collette plays Laura Oliver, a speech therapist in the small town of Belle Isle, Georgia, who moved there from New York with her daughter Andy (Bella Hathcote) to take care of her sick mother.
On Andy’s 30th birthday, the two are celebrating at a diner when a shooting occurs. Laura steps in, revealing a different side which her daughter has never seen before. Media attention following the incident draws shady figures from Laura’s past, forcing Andy to investigate.
The series then splits between Laura’s younger days and the present, and Andy begins connecting the dots using the information she gets. The next few episodes are all about Andy’s attempt to discover Laura’s background, with a few twists and turns.
While I was totally gripped by the show’s intense storyline the first few episodes, the show eventually flounders as the season progress. It all feels more complicated than it actually needs to be, because the destination that all of it leads to is pretty simple and straightforward.
As I completed the last episode, I was left with an empty feeling because the show was neither good nor bad. I would conclude it as a pleasant thriller, and it’s the relationship between mother and daughter duo that is worth watching. However, I won’t deny the obvious fact that Pieces of Her could have done much better, because it almost felt like the story is going in circles.
While they worked hard on the plot of the series, whether it actually reached audiences the way the showrunners intended to is something I’ll let the viewers decide.
Pieces of Her is available to stream on Netflix.
DIRECTOR: Minkie Spiro
CAST: Toni Collette, Bella Heathcote, Jessica Barden
E-VALUE: 7
ACTING: 8
PLOT: 6
