Netflix’s Newest Miniseries Just Hit #1 on Rotten Tomatoes — and It’s Way Darker Than You Expect

Whenever Claire Danes returns to television, fans are ready to rally behind her. This time, the Homeland actor stars in Netflix’s limited series, The Beast in Me, a twisty thriller with more than a few performances to pay attention to. Danes stars as Aggie Wiggs, an author who, after the death of her son, had a significant dry spell. Currently working on a biography of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her solitude is rocked when a controversial figure moves in next door.

Niles Jarvis (Matthew Rhys) is a real estate mogul who is even more famous for the mysterious disappearance of his wife some years earlier. The body was never found, but Jarvis could never escape suspicion. He causes further waves by demanding to build a jogging path through community woods, an initiative that Aggie objects to. This is the start of their personal rivalry, which gets even uglier when the issue of his missing wife comes up again.

Aggie struggles with her own personal demons four years after the death of her son. Cooper was killed in a drunk driving accident where the driver was never held accountable. The author deals with her not-so-repressed rage, a trait Jarvis seems to share with her. The Beast in Me features a battle of wits and questions what is real or what is just perception. The series will keep viewers guessing until its final, blood-soaked reveal.

Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys Elevate ‘The Beast in Me’

Netflix thrillers appear to be a dime a dozen in recent years, but The Beast in Me is on another level. The dark territory about grief and the Robert Durst-adjacent story seems to belong on another platform. True to that fact, Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys contribute premium cable-level acting. From the first moment Aggie comes on screen, her grief is evident in her face and the tension in her body. Just one push, and Aggie is ready to snap, which she does after meeting Jarvis face to face.

Rhys similarly gives as good as he gets as Jarvis, and then some. Following his critically acclaimed performance in The Americans, Rhys returns to television in a startlingly different role. He melts effortlessly into a confrontational yet mysterious tycoon who is Aggie’s great adversary. His insistence on building a jogging path is the start of their friction, and at every turn, he never gives Aggie a pass. Rhys oozes privilege in this series, where everything has a price. When he isn’t trying to buy people off, he wears a distinguishable mask, barely hiding the character’s creepy and unsettling personality.

The Beast in Me is a series that would only work with the collaboration of its two lead actors. Both bring the emotional complexities of their characters, not making either one entirely blameless in their arc. Aggie eventually begins to suspect that Jarvis isn’t just a heartless mogul, but something more insidious. Needing to find out what happened to the people in her community, Aggie goes against a giant who may be more like her than she realizes. Fans can follow this brutal series to its conclusion, streaming on Netflix.