The Queen’s Gambit Review
Based on the Walter Tevis novel of the same name, and written and directed by Scott Frank, The Queen's Gambit is one of the strongest mini series that combines the heart-racing highs and lows of what you'd see in a music biopic and the edge-of-your-seat moments of a sports drama. The secret sauce is the patient coming-of-age story it tells over its seven episodes.
Anya Taylor-Joy plays Beth Harmon, an extremely gifted chess prodigy with some terrible substance abuse problems who was orphaned at the age of eight. She and actors Isla Johnston and Annabeth Kelly (who play Harmon as younger Beth and five year old Beth respectively) portray a broken, and obsession fueled person over the span of 14 difficult, traumatic years. Though the subject matter is dark, the writing never reaches the melodramatic camp that it at times might feel close to becoming. Instead, it's a slow and meditative journey about the people Beth meets over the years -how they evolve and grow just as she does and how these relationships flower and dissolve. Just because you're a gifted athlete and celebrity, doesn't mean you know what the hell you're actually doing.
A huge strength of the series is also Frank's attention to detail, from it's crackling dialogue to what he does with the camera. At first glance, the show just seems like a decently produced Netflix drama but as it went on, the shots and how they moved, especially during the many chess battles, are put together like intricate dances between actors and how differently their characters express themselves on and in front of the board, no matter how minor a role they end up playing in the story. It's production design is heavy on the 60s mod which acts as a good contrast to the mundane outdated look of nuclear familial life in the suburbs, the bleak noirness of the city, the high fashion aesthetics of Paris, and the cold and oppressive atmosphere of Soviet Moscow. Every scene, whether it be an intimate moment between two characters in a hotel room or a tense high stakes chess match, is always fascinating to watch and experience. Also the soundtrack features nothing but bangers.
The Queen's Gambit is a masterpiece. Every aspect of it comes together in a very poetic, albeit at times, predictable but cathartic way. It's anchored by a show stopping performance from Anya Taylor-Joy and Scott Franks incredible script and direction. The series is in love with chess and it will make you love it too.