Tom Ripley is meant to be young and ambitious. He leaves his dark and dreary life to drink in the colourful world of the wealthy. But in this sorrowful reimagining, he is a middle-aged man who looks like a serial killer and shows an utter lack of normal human emotion. He leaves a crummy life in NYC to go to an equally colourless version of Italy (which is usually a rich tapestry of colour). No one would be taken in by this version of Tom who reads as immediately creepy. And unlike the Hollywood movie with Matt Damon and Jude Law, there is no chemistry between the two male leads. So, the motive of Tom feeling misled by Dickie about the nature of their relationship is nonexistent. It just comes off as guy randomly offing another guy who barely tolerates him: a dispassionate crime. And dispassionate is how I would describe the whole show. But somehow for others, the bland acting and backdrops seem to pop. Maybe they think people like me are missing the point. That's all right because I'd counter the emperor has no clothes!
