Critic Reviews

“Behind Her Eyes” is a fantastically entertaining magic trick of a TV show, so confident in its incongruous genre mashup that you won’t be able to look away. You might love the exceptionally audacious ending or you might hate it, but you’ll certainly talk about it either way.

The less you know about Behind Her Eyes going in the better, and while the Netflix drama feels slow-going at first, patience has its rewards. By the time it's over, this sci-fi-tinged limited series becomes a buzzworthy binge, one that will likely have you thinking back to clues you might have missed along the way.

Netflix’s new nail-biter of a miniseries, is thematically chaotic, and its characters are messy, but its ending has an effect like breaking the seal of a ketchup bottle—a startling, satisfying pop. ... “Behind Her Eyes” manages to be both over the top and efficient. It’s the kind of show that rewards a rewatch, if one is able to stomach it. ... Part of the fun for the viewer, too, lies in just letting go and seeing where the series’ dizzying hairpin turns will take you.

Audiences who think they’ve figured out “Behind Her Eyes” by episode 1 or 2 will have a rude awakening of their own.

The way that Lightfoot has led the viewers down this path is intriguing.

What I liked about the first episode was Louise – a character behaving in believable ways as a single mum who just wants some romance in her life. By the series end, believability isn’t high on the agenda. You’ll either love or hate the big reveal.

I can’t help but feel it would be much more enticing were it released on a weekly basis. As a binge watch, Behind Her Eyes is overly drawn out with not enough drama to make up for the rather dull storyline.

Some of Behind Your Eyes makes a bit more sense once you get to its ridiculous conclusion, but it largely takes meaning away from what came before rather than adding new depth and excitement.

Netflix's The Haunting of Bly Manor, itself an adaptation of The Turn of the Screw, never quite descended into ridiculousness. But it was a show that, for me, worked best in a place of spooky insinuation and became less interesting the more it spelled out exactly what was happening.

Unfortunately the pacing here is too slow and many may abandon the train before it gets where it’s going. “Behind Her Eyes” is the perfect example of a six-part series that should have been four. Its stretch marks are unseemly. Less can be more.