Entertainment
This Intense 97% Rotten Tomatoes Thriller Is a Near-Perfect 2-Part Weekend Binge
Fresh off the news of Jamie Dornan entering The Lord of the Rings franchise with the newly announced The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, it’s time to watch one of the best performances from the upcoming film’s key players. Enter Dornan’s BBC-produced series, The Tourist, a 97% Rotten Tomatoes gem that turns the usual amnesia trope into something tense, unpredictable, and unforgettable.
This tense and shocking thriller follows Dornan as Elliot, an Irishman who wakes up in Australia with no memory of who he is or why he is in the country after being run off the road by a massive truck. As he searches for the truth of his identity, he is hunted down by mysterious villains and is unaware of who his friends are and who is trying to sell him out. Keeping the audience on their toes, The Tourist constantly subverts our expectations. By flipping the typical perspective of an amnesia episode and seeing it through the eyes of the person who has lost their memory, the anxiety is heightened throughout, and the core theme of how to love and allow yourself to be loved is a touching idea that goes beyond shallow aesthetics.
The Tourist also gives us fabulous villains who, although evil, are so entertaining to watch that any frustrations one has with the slow-burning mystery will be thoroughly satisfied in the meantime.
‘The Tourist’ Explores Genuine Connection and Body Positivity
We all know what image pops into our heads when told to think of an action star’s love interest. A slim, sexy woman who is a femme fatale, like Eva Green in Casino Royale, Michelle Rodriguez in the Fast & Furious franchise, and Anne Hathaway‘s Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises. But The Tourist throws most of this genre expectation into the bin and is all the better for it.
To be clear, this is in no way a knock on the aforementioned women or their beauty, but an appreciation of seeing something different in The Tourist, that also aligns with everyday relatability. While Elliot meets a woman from his past named Luci (Shalom Brune-Franklin), who fits the former archetype (and previously had a relationship with), the real romance of the series is between Elliot and Helen (Danielle MacDonald). Helen is a police officer in the small town Elliot finds himself in, and is the only person outside the hit men who is interested in helping Elliot.
We are introduced to her at a meeting for people trying to lose weight, and throughout the first episode and season, we see her struggle with her self-image. Helen’s fiancé, Ethan (Greg Larsen), constantly puts her down for being curvy, even though she is a beautiful and kind person, and this is what Elliot recognizes in her.
From laughing over Mexican food to connecting over their shared feelings of not having a clear purpose, we see a relationship blooming between the two that is far more relatable and sweet to watch than the typical snarky back-and-forths between James Bond and his love interest. In doing so, we are given an emotional attachment to the show that raises the stakes as we want to see these two continue this journey together.
‘The Tourist’ Gives Away Very Little in Terms of Elliot’s True Identity
As stated in the beginning, The Tourist subverts expectations by showing us the perspective of someone suffering from amnesia, rather than how those around them react to the loss of someone they used to know. The only scene of pre-amnesia Elliot we get in the pilot shows him as a cocky and funny guy who is clearly on some kind of mission, and that’s the only information we are given until much later in the series. Therefore, rather than a dramatic irony where the audience knows more than Elliot, we are on the same page throughout and learning with the protagonist, which makes us feel more emotionally attached to his journey.
It also delivers shocking reveals about Elliot’s past, which this article won’t spoil, but it does make you question whether this character is someone you still want to root for, or if the amnesia has allowed him to start his life again. Therefore, Elliot’s character arc is intensely complex and plays with how you perceive one’s identity. Are we who we are in the moment, or does our history define us?
‘The Tourist’ Offers Wonderfully Over-the-Top Villains Who Are Entertaining and Terrifying
While a slow-burning series is not for everyone, The Tourist manages to keep its momentum high by making its antagonists colorful characters with many personal traits that keep them fascinating. For example, the hitman chasing Elliot, named Billy Nixon (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), feels like he has been ripped out of an old gunslinger film. He has a deep Southern accent, and his brutal nature portrays him as someone who has no concept of what a law is. In doing so, Billy comes across as more of a Terminator than a man, with one scene where Elliot and Helen take him on showing how his size allows him to take multiple hits and keep moving forward, with even being thrown down a well not being enough to stop him. Behind him are larger antagonists such as Kostas (Alex Dimitriades), a drug lord who is constantly taking LSD and in the mood to shoot someone, who expands the world beyond the small town in Australia.
With two seasons of The Tourist capping off with the biggest twist of all, which you’ll have to watch to find out, there is a large scope for where a potential third season could go. Currently, while Dornan told Entertainment Weekly in 2024 that he was “very busy,” it does feel like a third season is likely, with “conversations” being had, according to the lead actor. In which case, you will want to be caught up for if and when the next chapter is announced. However, with touching themes, a unique narrative structure, and intimidating antagonists, The Tourist is a series you’ll want to binge merely for the love of great drama.
The Tourist is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
- Release Date
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2024 – 2024-00-00
- Directors
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Chris Sweeney
- Writers
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Harry Williams, Jack Williams
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